Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Dior, Christian krēstyäNˈ dē-ôrˈ [key], 1905–57, French fashion designer. He established his main house of couture in Paris (1946) and by 1958 had salons in 15 countries employing more than 2,...

(Encyclopedia) Rask, Rasmus Christian räsˈmo͝os krĭsˈtyän räsk [key], 1787–1832, Danish philologist. Rask was a major linguistic pioneer. He published one of the first usable Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic gramm...

(Encyclopedia) Diez, Friedrich Christian frēˈdrĭkh krĭsˈtyän dēts [key], 1794–1876, German philologist. A professor at Bonn, Diez is noted as one of the founders of the science of Romanic philology. His gre...

(Encyclopedia) Poggendorff, Johann Christian yōˈhän krĭsˈtyän pôgˈəndôrfˌ [key], 1796–1877, German physicist and chemist. He founded (1824) and edited the important Annalen der Physik und Chemie and edi...

(Encyclopedia) Sprengel, Christian Konrad krĭsˈtyän kônˈrät shprĕngˈəl [key], 1750–1816, German botanist. Although director of a school at Spandau and tutor in Berlin, he devoted himself chiefly to the st...

(Encyclopedia) liturgy, Christian [Gr. leitourgia = public duty or worship] form of public worship, particularly the form of rite or services prescribed by the various Christian churches. In the Western Church the p...

(Encyclopedia) Lange, Christian Louis krĭsˈtyän lo͞oˈē längˈə [key], 1869–1938, Norwegian pacifist. In his youth he joined the Young Norway movement and worked for the separation of Norway from Sweden. He...

(Encyclopedia) Ginsburg, Christian David gĭnzˈbərg [key], 1831–1914, English Hebrew scholar, b. Warsaw. He was converted to Christianity in 1846 and settled in England. He translated (1857) the Song of Songs, w...

(Encyclopedia) Klein, Christian Felix klīn [key], 1849–1925, German mathematician. He is noted for his work in geometry and on the theory of functions. His Erlangen program (1872) for unifying the diverse forms ...

(Encyclopedia) Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), organization whose stated mission is “to empower women and girls and to eliminate racism.” The movement is nondenominational. It grew out of the homes f...