Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Meany, George, 1894–1980, American labor leader, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO; 1955–79), b. New York City. A plumber, he was elec...

(Encyclopedia) Letta, Enrico, 1966–, Italian political leader, b. Pisa. He actively entered politics in 1994, joining the center-left Italian People's party. He held a post in the finance ministry as Italy prepare...

(Encyclopedia) Ponta, Victor vēkˈtôr pônˈtä [key], 1972–, Romanian lawyer and politician, Ph.D. Univ. of Bucharest Law School, 2003. Ponta has taught at the Romanian-American Univ. of Bucharest (1996–98, 2...

(Encyclopedia) Lubbers, Ruud (Rudolphus Franciscus Marie Lubbers), 1939–2018, Dutch political leader. After the death of his father (1965), he became codirector of the family's engineering firm. A member (from 196...

(Encyclopedia) Ikeda, Hayato häyäˈtō ēkāˈdä [key], 1899–1965, Japanese political leader, prime minister (1960–64). After serving as an official in the finance ministry (1925–48) he entered politics, ga...

(Encyclopedia) Franco, Itamar Augusto, 1930–2011, Brazilian political leader. He began his political career as mayor (1966–74) of his hometown, Juiz de Fora, and was subsequently (1974, 1982) elected to the Braz...

(Encyclopedia) Kyprianou, Spyros kēprēäno͞o [key], 1932–2002, Greek Cypriot political leader and president of Cyprus (1977–1988). He served (1960–72) as foreign minister, and opposed efforts by Athens to u...

(Encyclopedia) Balkenende, Jan Peter yän pāətûr bälˈkənĕndə [key], 1956–, Dutch political leader, prime minister of the Netherlands (2002–10), b. Kapelle. He attended the Free Univ. of Amsterdam, earnin...

(Encyclopedia) Torrijos Espino, Martín Erasto, 1963–, Panamanian political leader, president of Panama (2004–), b. Panama City. The son of Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera, he studied economics and political science ...

(Encyclopedia) Halonen, Tarja Kaarina tärˈyä käˈrēnä häˈlōnĕn [key], 1943–, Finnish political leader, president of Finland (2000–), b. Helsinki, grad. Univ. of Helsinki (LL.M., 1968). Halonen became a...