Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Menchú, Rigoberta rēˌgōbĕrˈtä mĕncho͞oˈ [key], 1959–, Guatemalan social reformer. Of Mayan descent, she and her family were caught in Guatemala's bloody civil war. Protesters against human...

(Encyclopedia) Bachofen, Johann Jakob bäkōˈfən [key], 1815–87, Swiss legal historian and antiquarian. Bachofen studied in Berlin, Göttingen, Paris, and Cambridge, and accepted only honorary offices in order t...

(Encyclopedia) Perrault, Charles shärl pĕrōˈ [key], 1628–1703, French poet. His collections of eight fairy tales, Histoires ou contes du temps passé [stories or tales of olden times] (1697) gave classic form ...

(Encyclopedia) Britannicus (Claudius Tiberius Germanicus Britannicus) brĭtănˈĭkəs [key], a.d. 41?–a.d. 55, Roman prince, son of Claudius I and Messalina, so called in honor of Claudius' conquests in Britain. ...

(Encyclopedia) Benjamin [Heb.,=son of fortune], younger son of Jacob and Rachel, eponymous ancestor of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. His mother, dying, named him Benoni bĕnōˈnī [key] [Heb.,=son of my sorrow]. ...

(Encyclopedia) Portsmouth, Louise Renée de Kéroualle, duchess of lwēz rənāˈ də kāro͞oälˈ [key], 1649–1734, French mistress of Charles II of England. She exerted a powerful influence over the king in fav...

(Encyclopedia) Dessau, Paul dĕsˈou [key], 1894–1979, German conductor and composer. As a conductor he worked (1919–23) in Cologne before moving to Berlin from 1925 until 1933. A fervent socialist, he left Germ...

(Encyclopedia) du Plessix Gray, Francine, 1930–2019, French-American writer, b. Warsaw, studied Bryn Mawr, Black Mountain College, B.A. Barnard, 1952. She worked first as a writer and editor for radio and magazine...

(Encyclopedia) Bush, Barbara, 1925–2018, b. New York City as Barbara Pierce; wife of George H. W. Bush and mother of George W. Bush. She studied briefly at Smith College before marrying (1945); the Bushes ultimate...

(Encyclopedia) Ahaziah āhəzīˈə [key], in the Bible. 1 King of Israel, son of Ahab. He was a worthy successor of his father only in that he followed Ahab's religious views. He was succeeded by his brother Jehora...