Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Rawlinson, Sir Henry Creswicke, 1810–95, English Orientalist and administrator; brother of George Rawlinson. In the course of his service with the Persian army and as consul at Baghdad, Rawlinson be...

(Encyclopedia) Balta, José hōsāˈ bälˈtä [key], 1816–72, president of Peru (1868–72). In 1865 he helped Mariano I. Prado to seize the presidency and served in his government, but in 1867 Balta led in overt...

(Encyclopedia) Elssler, Fanny fäˈnē ĕlˈslər [key], 1810–84, Austrian dancer. The youngest daughter of Johann Elssler, copyist and valet of Haydn, she made her debut (1833) in London. She danced at the Paris ...

(Encyclopedia) epitaph, strictly, an inscription on a tomb; by extension, a statement, usually in verse, commemorating the dead. The earliest such inscriptions are those found on Egyptian sarcophagi. In England epit...

(Encyclopedia) Munro, Alice, 1931–, Canadian writer, b. Wingham, Ont., as Alice Ann Laidlaw. Much acclaimed as one of the finest contemporary short-story writers, Munro is known for quiet, insightfully realistic, ...

(Encyclopedia) Chaucer, Geoffrey jĕfˈrē chôˈsər [key], c.1340–1400, English poet, one of the most important figures in English literature. To Chaucer's final period, in which he achieved his fullest artist...

(Encyclopedia)  CEE Italian language, member of the Romance group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Romance languages). The official language of Italy and San Marino, and one of...

(Encyclopedia) Darrow, Clarence Seward, 1857–1938, American lawyer, b. Kinsman, Ohio. He first practiced law in Ashtabula, Ohio. In 1887 he moved to Chicago, where he was corporation counsel for several years and ...

(Encyclopedia) Hasidism or Chassidism both: hăsˈĭdĭzˌəm, khă– [key] [Heb.,=the pious], Jewish religious movement founded in Poland in the 18th cent. by Baal-Shem-Tov. Its name derives from Hasidim. Hasidism...

(Encyclopedia) Araucanians əroukänˈēən [key], South American people, occupying most of S central Chile at the time of the Spanish conquest (1540). The Araucanians were an agricultural people living in small set...