Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Casimir III, 1310–70, king of Poland (1333–70), son of Ladislaus I and last of the Piast dynasty. Called Casimir the Great, he brought comparative peace to Poland. By the Congress of Visegrad (133...

(Encyclopedia) Don dŏn, Rus. dôn [key], river, SW European Russia. It rises SE of Tula and flows c.1,200 mi (1,930 km), first SE past Voronezh, then SW into the Sea of Azov. At its eastern bend the Don is linked b...

(Encyclopedia) Dukhobors or Doukhobors both: do͞oˈkəbôrz [key] [Russ.,=spirit wrestlers], religious group, prominent in Russia from the 18th to the 19th cent. The name was coined by the Orthodox opponents of the...

(Encyclopedia) Mansfeld, Peter Ernst von pāˈtər ĕrnst fən mänsˈfĕlt [key], 1580?–1626, military commander in the Thirty Years War. Illegitimate son of a governor for the Hapsburgs in Luxembourg, he rendere...

(Encyclopedia) Berger, John Peter bûrˈjər [key], 1926–2017, British art critic, cultural historian, and writer, b. London. Berger, who began his career as a painter, is best known for his art criticism. He wrot...

(Encyclopedia) Healy, George Peter Alexander, 1813–94, American painter, b. Boston. He began painting portraits at the age of 18 and, disregarding background, concentrated on producing a good likeness. Examples of...

(Encyclopedia) Kamchatka kămchătˈkə [key], peninsula, 104,200 sq mi (269,878 sq km), Kamchatka Territory, Russian Far East, separating the Sea of Okhotsk in the west from the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean in ...

(Encyclopedia) William II, 1859–1941, emperor of Germany and king of Prussia (1888–1918), son and successor of Frederick III and grandson of William I of Germany and of Queen Victoria of England. After the out...

(Encyclopedia) Pan-Slavism, theory and movement intended to promote the political or cultural unity of all Slavs. Advocated by various individuals from the 17th cent., it developed as an intellectual and cultural mo...

(Encyclopedia) Goremykin, Ivan Longinovich ēvänˈ lən-gēˈnəvĭch gəryĭmĭˈkĭn [key], 1839–1917, Russian statesman. A conservative, he was (1895–99) interior minister under Czar Nicholas II and succeede...