Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Becher, Johannes Robert yōhänˈəs rōˈbĕrt bĕkhˈər [key], 1891–1958, German poet and essayist. After an early association with the Expressionist movement, Becher turned to Communism. His ant...

(Encyclopedia) Lévesque, René lāvĕkˈ [key], 1922–87, Canadian political leader and Quebec separatist. After a career in journalism and television, he served in the Quebec National Assembly (1961–67) as a me...

(Encyclopedia) Pereira, Aristides Maria ärĭshˈtēdĭsh märēˈä pərāˈrä [key], 1923–2011, first president of Cape Verde. In the late 1940s he became an activist in the struggle against Portuguese colonial...

(Encyclopedia) Stanfield, Robert Lorne, 1914–2003, Canadian political leader. A lawyer, he became (1948) leader of the Progressive Conservative party in Nova Scotia, entered the provincial legislature (1949), and ...

(Encyclopedia) Hu Yaobang ho͞oˈ youˈbängˈ [key], 1915–89, Chinese Communist political leader, b. Hunan prov. A protegé of Deng Xiaoping, Hu became general secretary of the Communist party in 1980 and party c...

(Encyclopedia) Sturzo, Luigi lo͞oēˈjē sto͞orˈtsō [key], 1871–1959, Italian priest and political leader. He taught philosophy and sociology at a seminary in his native Sicily. In 1919 he founded the Popular ...

(Encyclopedia) Tsipras, Alexis, 1974–, Greek political leader. A civil engineer by training, he was the head (2008–13) of Snyaspismos, a leftist party that was part of the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza);...

(Encyclopedia) Gandhi, Rahul gänˈdē [key], 1970–, Indian political leader, B.A. Rollins College, 1994, M.Phil. Cambridge, 1995. Son of Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, he entered politics in 2004, winning electi...

(Encyclopedia) Kinnock, Neil Gordon kĭnˈək [key], 1942–, British politician, b. Tredegar, Wales. The son of a miner, he studied at University College, Cardiff. In 1970 he was elected to Parliament as a Labour p...

(Encyclopedia) Zeman, Miloš mēˈlōsh zĕˈmän [key], 1944–, Czech economist and political leader, president of the Czech Republic (2013–). He joined (1968) the Communist party during the Prague Spring and be...