Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Weir, Peter wēr [key], 1944–, Australian film director, b. Sydney. His early work helped to bring Australian film to world attention; his later films, made in Hollywood, mingle American movie techn...

(Encyclopedia) Peter Martyr: see Peter of Verona, Saint; Vermigli, Pietro Martire. ...

(Encyclopedia) Paul, Wolfgang, 1913–93, German physicist, Ph.D. Technical Univ., Berlin, 1939. A professor at the Univ. of Bonn from 1952, Paul developed an ion-trap technique (known as the Paul trap), which made ...

(Encyclopedia) John Paul I, 1912–78, pope (1978), an Italian (b. Canale d'Agordo) named Albino Luciani; successor of Paul VI. Born into a poor, working-class family, he trained at local seminaries and at the Grego...

(Encyclopedia) John Paul II, Saint 1920–2005, pope (1978–2005), a Pole (b. Wadowice) named Karol Józef Wojtyła; successor of John Paul I. He was the first non-Italian pope elected since the Dutch Adrian VI (15...

(Encyclopedia) Cornelius, Peter pāˈtər kôrnāˈlēo͝os [key], 1824–74, German composer and poet; follower of Liszt and Wagner. He wrote music criticism, songs, and poetry but is best known for his operas Der ...

(Encyclopedia) Peter I or Peter the Great, 1672–1725, czar of Russia (1682–1725), major figure in the development of imperial Russia. Peter's personal traits ranged from bestial cruelty and vice to the most ...

(Encyclopedia) Peter the Great: see Peter I.

(Encyclopedia) Cadmus, Paul, 1904–99, American painter, b. N.Y.C.; studied National Academy of Design (1919–26), Art Students' League (1928). From 1933–35 he and painter Jared French traveled to Europe, where ...

(Encyclopedia) Pázmány, Peter päzˈmänyə [key], 1570–1637, Hungarian churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Of a Calvinist family, he was converted to Catholicism in 1583, entered the Society of Je...