Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Cajetan [Lat.,=from Gaeta], 1469?–1534, Italian prelate, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, b. Gaeta. His original name was Giacomo de Vio. He joined the Dominicans (c.1484), became general of t...

(Encyclopedia) Alcaeus ălsēˈəs [key], c.620–c.580 b.c., Greek lyric poet of Lesbos. An aristocrat, he was often embroiled in political battles with the ruling tyrants. He wrote drinking songs, hymns, love song...

(Encyclopedia) Ferdinand I, 1379?–1416, king of Aragón and Sicily and count of Barcelona (1412–16), second son of John I of Castile; nephew and successor of Martin of Aragón. In 1406, Ferdinand became regent o...

(Encyclopedia) Washington, Walter Edward, 1915–2003, American political figure, first African-American mayor of Washington, D.C. (1975–79) and of a major American city, b. Dawson, Ga., grad. Howard Univ. (A.B., ...

(Encyclopedia) Saint-Dié săN-dyā [key], city (1990 pop. 23,670), Vosges dept., E France, in Lorraine, on the Meurthe River. It is an industrial center where foundry products, chemical products, and machinery are ...

(Encyclopedia) Poinsett, Joel Roberts poinˈsĕt [key], 1779–1851, American diplomat and politician, b. Charleston, S.C. In 1810 he was sent as a special commissioner to South America to investigate political cond...

(Encyclopedia) Bugenhagen, Johann yōˈhän bo͞oˈgənhäˌgən [key], 1485–1558, German Protestant reformer. Born in Pomerania, he is sometimes called Dr. Pomeranus. Bugenhagen, an ordained priest, was attracted...

(Encyclopedia) Michael VIII (Michael Palaeologus), c.1225–1282, Byzantine emperor (1261–82), first of the Palaeologus dynasty. Following the murder of the regent for Emperor John IV of Nicaea, he was appointed (...

(Encyclopedia) Plath, Sylvia, 1932–63, American poet, b. Boston. Educated at Smith College and Cambridge, Plath published poems even as a child and won many academic and literary awards. Her first volume of poetry...

(Encyclopedia) Servetus, Michael sərvēˈtəs [key], 1511–53, Spanish theologian and physician. His name in Spanish was Miguel Serveto. In his early years he came in contact with some of the leading reformers in ...