Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) gecko gĕkˈō [key], small or medium-sized lizard of the family Gekkonidae. Some 1,500 species are distributed throughout the warm regions of the world, mostly in the Old World. Despite folklore to t...

(Encyclopedia) Ghent gĕnt [key], Du. Gent, Fr. Gand, city, capital of East Flanders prov., W Belgium, at th...

(Encyclopedia) Fischer, Fritz, 1908–99, German historian. Appointed professor at the Univ. of Hamburg in 1948 (emeritus after 1973), he became famous as the result of his book Griff nach der Weltmacht (1961; tr. G...

(Encyclopedia) Mombert, Alfred älˈfrĕt mômˈbĕrt [key], 1872–1942, German poet. He was briefly a lawyer and public official. His works, characterized by mysticism, fantasy, and simplicity of style, include Di...

(Encyclopedia) Sombart, Werner vĕrˈnər zômˈbärt [key], 1863–1941, German economist. In 1917 he became professor of economics at the Univ. of Berlin. Influenced by Marx's historical approach to economics, he ...

(Encyclopedia) South African literature, literary works written in South Africa or written by South Africans living in other countries. Populated by diverse ethnic and language groups, South Africa has a distinctive...

(Encyclopedia) Hals, Frans fräns häls [key], c.1580–1666, Dutch painter of portraits and genre scenes, b. Antwerp. Hals spent most of his life in Haarlem, where he studied with Karel van Mander and became (1610)...

(Encyclopedia) Bieler, Manfred mänˈfrĕt bēˈlər [key], 1934–, German dramatist and novelist. Among Bieler's plays, written for radio, are Die achte Trübsal [the eighth misery] (1960), attacking anti-Semitism...

(Encyclopedia) Roscher, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm rôshˈər [key], 1817–94, German economist. A professor at the Univ. of Leipzig (1848–94), he was a founder of the German historical school of economics, which reject...

(Encyclopedia) Thoma, Ludwig lo͝otˈvĭkh [key], 1867–1921, German novelist, dramatist, and poet. Thoma satirized Bavarian rural and small-town life. His serious peasant novels Andreas Vöst (1905), Der Wittiber ...