Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Napolitano, Giorgio, 1925–, Italian political leader, b. Naples. He studied law at the Univ. of Naples, and was a member of the Communist party from 1945 until its dissolution in 1991, when he joine...

(Encyclopedia) Martin, Micheál, 1960–, Irish political leader. He briefly taught history before being elected (1985) to the Cork local government, and served (1992–93) as lord mayor of the city. A member of Fia...

(Encyclopedia) Mitsotakis, Kyriakos, 1968–, Greek political leader. Son of Constantine Mitsotakis, he studied in the United States, worked as an economist in London (1990–91, 1995–97), then returned to Greece ...

(Encyclopedia) Alia, Ramiz, 1925–2011, Albanian politician. He fought with Communist guerrillas in World War II and joined (1943) the Communist party, becoming an officer and political commisar. Under Enver Hoxha,...

(Encyclopedia) Flynn, Edward Joseph, 1892–1953, American political leader, b. New York City. He practiced law in New York City and served (1917–21) in the New York state legislature. Flynn became leader of the D...

(Encyclopedia) Ford, Doug (Douglas Robert Ford), 1964–, Canadian politician. He worked at Deco Labels and Tags, a company his father cofounded, becoming responsible for operations after his father entered politics...

(Encyclopedia) Ansip, Andrus, 1956–, Estonian political leader. Ansip was an engineer (1979–83) before becoming an official of the Tartu district committee of the Estonian Communist party (1986–88). Ansip was ...

(Encyclopedia) Sobotka, Bohuslav bōˈho͞osläf sōˈbätkä [key], 1971–, Czech politician. Center-left in political philosophy and a member of the Czech Social Democratic party (CSSD) from 1989, Sobotka was fir...

(Encyclopedia) Ribičič, Mitja mēˈtyä rĭbĭchĭˈch [key], 1919–2013, Yugoslav politician. A Slovenian, he participated in the revolutionary student movement and joined the Communist party in 1941. He was a m...

(Encyclopedia) act of God, in law, an accident caused by the operation of extraordinary natural force. The effect of ordinary natural causes (e.g., that rain will leak through a defective roof) may be foreseen and a...