Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Acmeists ăkˈmēĭsts [key], school of Russian poets started in 1912 by Sergei M. Gorodetsky and Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev as a reaction against the mysticism of the symbolists. The school aspired ...

(Encyclopedia) Dvina dvēnäˈ [key] or Northern Dvina, Rus. Severnaya Dvina, river, c.465 mi (750 km) long, N European Russia. It is formed near Veliki Ustyug by the union of the Sukhona and Yug rivers, flows N pas...

(Encyclopedia) John I (John Zapolya) zäˈpôlyŏ [key], 1487–1540, king of Hungary (1526–40), voivode [governor] of Transylvania (1511–26). He was born John Zapolya, the son of Stephen Zápolya. The leader of...

(Encyclopedia) Catherine II or Catherine the Great, 1729–96, czarina of Russia (1762–96). Catherine increased the power and prestige of Russia by skillful diplomacy and by extending Russia's western boundary i...

(Encyclopedia) Ishim ēshēmˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 66,000), W Siberian Russia, on the Ishim River and the Trans-Siberian RR. An agricultural center, it produces farm machinery and processes food. An old trading t...

(Encyclopedia) Moscow mŏsˈkou, –kō [key], Rus. Moskva, city (1991 est. pop. 8,802,000), capital of Russia and of Moscow region and the administrative center of the Central federal district, W central European R...

(Encyclopedia) Stanislaus II, 1732–98, last king of Poland (1764–95). He was born Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski. His mother was a member of the powerful Czartoryski family, which furthered Stanislaus's career....

(Encyclopedia) Sophia Alekseyevna sôˈfyə əlyĭksyāˈyəvnə [key], 1657–1704, regent of Russia (1682–89); daughter of Czar Alexis by his first wife and sister of Czar Feodor III. Supported by the streltsi (...

(Encyclopedia) Leopold II, 1747–92, Holy Roman emperor (1790–92), king of Bohemia and Hungary (1790–92), as Leopold I grand duke of Tuscany (1765–90), third son of Maria Theresa. Succeeding his father, Holy ...

(Encyclopedia) Gorky: see Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. ...