Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Van Doren, Mark 1894–1973, American poet and critic, b. Hope, Vermilion co., Ill., Ph.D. Columbia, 1920; brother of Carl Van Doren. He taught English at Columbia (1920–59), where he was a renowned...

(Encyclopedia) Witt, Jan de yän [key], 1625–72, Dutch statesman. Like his father, Jacob de Witt, burgomaster of Dort, he became a leading opponent of the house of Orange and played a vital role in the three succe...

(Encyclopedia) Dyck, Christopher van vän dīkˈ [key], 1601–c.1672, German designer and maker of printing type, who worked in Amsterdam. Types that he designed were used by the Elzevir firm. His roman typeface wa...

(Encyclopedia) Linh, Nguyen Van nəwēˈĕn vän lĭn [key], 1915–98, Vietnamese political leader, b. near Hanoi as Nguyen Van Cuc. As a young man he was active in organizing Vietnam's Communist party and was twic...

(Encyclopedia) Dąbrowski, Jan Henryk yän hĕnˈrĭk dôNbrôfˈskē [key], 1755–1818, Polish general. He distinguished himself in the insurrection led by Kosciusko in 1794. After its failure he went to France an...

(Encyclopedia) Janssens, Janssen, or Jonson, Cornelis van Ceulen kôrnāˈlĭs vän köˈlən yänˈsəns, –sən, –sôn [key], 1593–c.1662, Dutch portrait painter who worked in England. He was the fashionable ...

(Encyclopedia) Laer or Laar, Pieter van both: pēˈtər vän lär [key], c.1592–1642, Dutch landscape and genre painter and etcher. In 1625 he went to Rome, where he stayed until 1639. He was nicknamed Il Bambocci...

(Encyclopedia) Oort, Jan Hendrik ōrt [key], 1900–1992, Dutch astronomer. He confirmed (1927) Bertil Lindblad's theory of the Milky Way galaxy's rotation. In the 1950s he and his colleagues used radio astronomical...

(Encyclopedia) Minh, Duong Van do͝ong vän mēn [key], 1916–2001, Vietnamese army officer and political leader. A military adviser (1962–63) to President Diem, he helped to overthrow Diem in 1963. He was head o...

(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...