Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Winton, Sir Nicholas George, 1909–2015, British stockbroker who saved the lives of several hundred Czech children on the eve of World War II, b. London as Nicholas George Wertheim (later Wortham); h...

(Encyclopedia) Berger, Victor Louis, 1860–1929, American Socialist leader and congressman, b. Austria-Hungary. After studying at the universities of Budapest and Vienna, he emigrated (1878) to the United States an...

(Encyclopedia) Versace, Gianni (Giovanni Maria Versace), 1946–97, Italian fashion designer, b. Reggio Calabria. A dressmaker's son, Versace worked for several Italian designers before opening (1978) his own Milan ...

(Encyclopedia) Roth, Joseph or Józef yōˈzĕf rōt [key], 1894–1939, Austrian novelist, essayist, journalist, and publisherb. Brody, Galicia. An outspoken critic of Hitler and militarism, he moved to Paris in 19...

(Encyclopedia) Russian State Library (RSL), Russia's national library, located in Moscow; one of the world's largest libraries. Moscow's first public library, the RSL was founded in 1862 as the library portion of th...

(Encyclopedia) Saroyan, William səroiˈən [key], 1908–81, American author, b. Fresno, Calif. Of Armenian background and extremely prolific, he created works that combine optimism, sentimentality, and a rhapsodic...

(Encyclopedia) Raymond, c.1140–1187, count of Tripoli (1152–87), great-great-grandson of Raymond IV of Toulouse. He played a leading part in the last years of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Captured (1164) by t...

(Encyclopedia) Bastille băstēlˈ [key] [O.Fr.,=fortress], fortress and state prison in Paris, located, until its demolition (started in 1789), near the site of the present Place de la Bastille. It was begun c.1369...

(Encyclopedia) Gregory XII, c.1327–1417, pope (1406–15), a Venetian named Angelo Correr; successor of Innocent VII. As a condition of election, Gregory promised to do everything possible to end the Great Schism,...

(Encyclopedia) Griffith, Arthur, 1872–1922, Irish statesman, founder of Sinn Féin. He joined the nationalist movement as a young man. In 1899 he founded the United Irishman, in which he advocated that Irish membe...