Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Emancipation, Edict of, 1861, the mechanism by which Czar Alexander II freed all Russian serfs (one third of the total population). All personal serfdom was abolished, and the peasants were to receive...

(Encyclopedia) Averescu, Alexander ävĕrĕsˈko͞o [key], 1859–1938, Romanian general and political leader. He served as a volunteer in the 1877–78 war against the Ottoman Empire and rose to become minister of ...

(Encyclopedia) Ptolemy III (Ptolemy Euergetes) yo͞oûrˈjĭtēz [key], d. 221 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (246–221 b.c.), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy II and the first Arsinoë. He plunged immediatel...

(Encyclopedia) Alexander, Sir William, d. 1640: see Stirling, William Alexander, earl of. ...

(Encyclopedia) Wekerle, Alexander vĕˈkĕrlĕ [key], 1848–1921, Hungarian premier. He became minister of finance in 1889 and retained that post during his first two terms as premier (1892–95, 1906–10). In his...

(Encyclopedia) Henry, Alexander, two fur traders, uncle and nephew, of the Old Northwest, each of whom left a valuable journal of his travels and experiences. Alexander Henry, the elder, 1739–1824, b. New Brunswic...

(Encyclopedia) Sancho III or Sancho the Great sänˈchō [key], c.970–1035, king of Navarre (1000–1035). Having inherited the kingdom of Navarre, which included Aragón, he launched an annexation campaign that m...

(Encyclopedia) Archipenko, Alexander ärkhĭpĕnˈkō [key], 1887–1964, Ukrainian-American sculptor, b. Kiev. He moved to Moscow in 1906 and to Paris in 1908. There he began to adapt cubist technique to sculpture....

(Encyclopedia) Constantine (Konstantin Pavlovich) kənstəntyēnˈ pävˈləvĭch [key], 1779–1831, Russian grand duke, second son of Czar Paul I and brother of Alexander I and Nicholas I. On the death of Alexande...

(Encyclopedia) John of Brienne brēĕnˈ [key], c.1170–1237, French crusader. He was a count and in 1210 married Mary, titular queen of Jerusalem. Mary died in 1212, and their daughter, Yolande (1212–28), succee...