Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Matsukata, Masayoshi mäsīˈōshē mätso͞oˈkäˌtä [key], 1835–1924, Japanese statesman. A Satsuma clansman and a genro, he was a leading figure in the modernization of Japan. As finance minist...

(Encyclopedia) Remizov, Aleksey Mikhailovich əlyĭksyāˈ mēkhīˈləvĭch rĕˈmēzəf [key], 1877–1957, Russian novelist, short-story writer, and painter. Remizov's emphasis on style, especially his ornamentat...

(Encyclopedia) Ferber, Edna, 1887–1968, American author, b. Kalamazoo, Mich. Her novels portray the lives of a wide variety of Americans in a vigorous, colorful, and panoramic fashion. Among her best-known novels ...

(Encyclopedia) Murphy, Charles Francis, 1858–1924, American political boss, b. New York City. He was the owner of many saloons in New York City and took a keen interest in Democratic politics. His services to Tamm...

(Encyclopedia) Holland Land Company, Dutch enterprise active in the settlement of much of W New York and some of NW Pennsylvania. Organized by Dutch bankers in 1796, it secured lands in New York (known as the Hollan...

(Encyclopedia) Harris, Patricia Roberts, 1924–85, U.S. government official, b. Mattoon, Ill. A lawyer who was active in the Democratic party, she was a law professor and dean at Howard Univ. during the 1960s and b...

(Encyclopedia) Harris, William Torrey, 1835–1909, American educator and philosopher, b. Windham co., Conn., educated at Yale. He was superintendent (1868–80) of the St. Louis public school system and was U.S. co...

(Encyclopedia) Wills, Helen Newington (Helen Wills Moody Roark), 1905–98, American tennis player, b. Centerville, Calif. She studied art at the Univ. of California and later gave exhibitions of her paintings and e...

(Encyclopedia) Gruenberg, Louis gro͞oˈənbûrg [key], 1884–1964, American composer, b. Russia; pupil of Busoni. After concert tours as a pianist in Europe and America, he settled in the United States as a compos...

(Encyclopedia) Conrad, Joseph, 1857–1924, English novelist, b. Berdichev, Russia (now Berdychiv, Ukraine), originally named Jósef Teodor Konrad Walecz Korzeniowski. Born of Polish parents, he is considered one of...