Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Rachel rāˈchəl [key], in the Bible, wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She is one of the four Jewish matriarchs. An alternate form is Rahel. ...

(Encyclopedia) Gasser, Herbert Spencer găsˈər [key], 1888–1963, American physiologist, b. Platteville, Wis., grad. Univ. of Wisconsin (B.A., 1910; M.A., 1911), M.D. Johns Hopkins, 1915. From 1931 to 1935 he was...

(Encyclopedia) André, Brother äNdrāˈ, änˈ– [key], 1845–1937, Canadian Roman Catholic mystic, b. St. Grégoire d'Iberville, Que. His secular name was Alfred Bissette, Bassette, or Bessette. For about 40 yea...

(Encyclopedia) Auer, Leopold ouˈər [key], 1845–1930, Hungarian violinist and teacher, studied at the conservatories of Budapest and Vienna and with Joseph Joachim in Hanover. He taught at the St. Petersburg Cons...

(Encyclopedia) Merckx, Eddy (Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx) mûrks [key], 1945–, Belgian bicycle racer. He won the world amateur cycling championship in 1964 and became world professional champion in 1967. H...

(Encyclopedia) Barthélemy, Auguste Marseille ōgüstˈ märsāˈyə bärtālmēˈ [key], 1796–1867, French poet. With his friend Joseph Méry he wrote several brilliant and popular political satires, including La...

(Encyclopedia) Jackson, Shoeless Joe (Joseph Jefferson Jackson), 1887–1951, American baseball player, b. Brandon Mills, S.C. Holder of the third highest (.356) career batting average in major league history, Jacks...

(Encyclopedia) Sue, Eugène özhĕnˈ sü [key], 1804–57, French novelist, whose name was originally Marie-Joseph Sue. A surgeon in the French navy, he went into exile when Napoleon III came to power. Sue's popula...

(Encyclopedia) Richard, Maurice (Joseph Henri Maurice Richard) zhōzĕfˈ äNrēˈ môrēsˈ rēˈshärˌ [key], 1921–2000, Canadian hockey player, b. Montreal. Richard, nicknamed “the Rocket” by his admirers,...

(Encyclopedia) banksia băngkˈsēə [key] [for Sir Joseph Banks], popularized name of a genus of Australian evergreen trees and shrubs of the same family as the macadamia and sometimes cultivated in America. Banksi...