genius In ancient Roman religion, the attendant spirit of a person or place. It originally represented the housefather, who gave continuity to a family or clan over generations; its female counterpart was the house¬ mother, called the juno. In later times, the genius was seen as an indi¬ vidual’s guardian spirit or higher self, and it was worshiped by that individual, especially on his birthday. There were also genii of places and of groups such as legions, states, and guilds.
Genoa Vje-no-o\ Italian Genova Vje-no-v3\ ancient Genua City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 603,560) and seaport, northwestern Italy. Capital of
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748 I Genoa ► Gentz
Liguria region, it is the centre of the Italian Riviera. Flourishing under the Romans, it went on to become a chief Mediterranean commercial city (12th—13th centuries), rivaled only by Venice. Its fortunes declined in the 14th and 15th centuries, after it lost a century-long struggle with Venice for control of the Levant. Taken by Napoleon in the early 19th century, it later regained its independence and prospered, especially after Italian uni¬ fication. Although the city was badly damaged in World War II, a num¬ ber of historic buildings survive. The birthplace of Christopher Columbus, Genoa is still noted for its maritime tradition, with shipbuilding its major industry; its university (founded 1471) is known for its economic and maritime studies.
Genoa, Conference of (1922) Post-World War I meeting at Genoa, Italy, to discuss the economic reconstruction of Central and Eastern Europe and to improve relations between Soviet Russia and Western Europe. Representatives of 30 European countries sought ways to enlist foreign capital for the “restoration of Russia.” Negotiations broke down when France and Belgium, Russia’s main creditors, insisted on repayment of prewar loans and restitution of confiscated foreign-owned property in Russia. Announcement of the German-Soviet Treaty of Rapallo further strained relations.
genocide Yje-no-.sIdV Deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, religious, political, or ethnic group. The term was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-born jurist who served as an adviser to the U.S. Depart¬ ment of War during World War II, to describe the premeditated effort to destroy a population (see Holocaust). In 1946 the UN General Assembly declared genocide a punishable crime. By this declaration, genocide by definition may be committed by an individual, group, or government, against one’s own people or another, in peacetime or in wartime. This last point distinguishes genocide from “crimes against humanity,” whose legal definition specifies wartime. Suspects may be tried by a court in the coun¬ try where the act was committed or by an international court (see Inter¬ national Criminal Court). An example of genocide more recent than the Holocaust is the slaughter of Tutsi people by the Hutu in Rwanda in the 1990s.
genotype Vje-no-.tlpV Genetic makeup of an organism. The genotype determines the hereditary potentials and limitations of an individual. Among organisms that reproduce sexually, an individual’s genotype com¬ prises the entire complex of genes inherited from both parents. Sexual reproduction guarantees that each individual has a unique genotype, except for identical twins, who come from the same fertilized egg. See also PHENOTYPE, VARIATION.
Genovese \je-n9-'ve-ze\, Eugene D(ominick) (b. May 19, 1930, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. historian. He earned a doctorate at Columbia University and taught at Rutgers, Columbia, Cambridge, and elsewhere. He is known for his writings on the American Civil War and slavery, especially Roll, Jordan, Roll (1974) and The Slaveholders’ Dilemma (1992). He advanced his argument in A Consuming Fire: The Fall of the Confederacy in the Mind of the White Christian South (1998).
genre painting Yzhan-ra\ Painting of scenes from everyday life, of ordinary people at work or play, depicted in a realistic manner. In the 18th century, the term was used derogatorily to describe painters specializing in one type of picture, such as flowers, animals, or middle-class life. By the mid-19th century it was being used more approvingly, and it is still popularly used to describe works by 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painters such as Jan Steen, Gerard Terborch, Adriaen van Ostade, and Johannes Vermeer, and later masters such as J.-B.-S. Chardin in France, Pietro Longhi in Italy, and George Caleb Bingham in the U.S.
genro \'gen-'ro\ Japanese "principal elders" Extraconstitutional oligarchy that dominated the Japanese government from the promulga¬ tion of the Meiji Constitution (1889) to the early 1930s. The genro were men who had played a leading role in the 1868 Meiji Restoration. Their caretaking role outside the official government structure continued the Japanese tradition of having actual authority wielded by forces other than the titular authority. See also Fujiwara family; Hojo family; Ito Hirobumi; Yamagata Aritomo.
Genroku \,gen- , ro- l kii\ period (1688-1704) Period in Japanese his¬ tory characterized by a flourishing of the culture of the non-samurai city dweller. The term is often used to cover a longer cultural period (c. 1675— 1725). Ostentatious displays of wealth were prohibited, but the affluent townspeople of Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo (Tokyo) found means to display
their wealth. Much time and money was spent in the pleasure quarters, districts where theatres, brothels, and teahouses were located, and this “floating (i.e., fleeting) world,” or ukiyo, was commemorated in brightly colored woodblock prints (see ukiyo-e). The Genroku period set the stan¬ dards for an urban culture that continued throughout the Edo period. See also Edo culture.
gens Vjenz\ Ancient Roman clan whose members were all descended from a common male ancestor. The descendants revered the original male ancestor and identified their relationship by using his name as their sec¬ ond name (e.g., Gaius Valerius Catullus). Marriage between members of a gens was commonly discouraged.
gentian family Vjen-sh3n\ Family Gentianaceae (order Gentianales), composed of some 1,100 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants and, rarely, shrubs, native mostly to northern temperate regions. The four or five united petals that make up the flower may be deeply divided; they overlap and are twisted in the bud. Some species are used in herbal remedies and in the making of dyes. Several species of gentians (genus Gentiana) bear attractive flowers and are cultivated as garden ornamentals. Gentians occur widely in moist meadows and woods.
Gentile \jen-'te-la\, Giovanni (b. May 30, 1875, Castelvetrano, Italy—d. April 15, 1944, Florence) Italian philosopher, sometimes called the “philosopher of fascism.” A university professor, he and Benedetto Croce edited the journal La Critica (1903-22). He served in education posts in Benito Mussolini’s government. His philosophy of “actual ideal¬ ism,” strongly influenced by G.W.F. Hegel, denied the existence of indi¬ vidual minds and of any distinction between theory and practice, subject and object, past and present. He planned and edited the Enciclopedia Ital- iana (1936) and wrote prolifically on education and philosophy. Among his works are The Reform of Education (1920), The Philosophy of Art (1931), and My Religion (1943). He was killed by antifascist communists.
Gentile da Fabriano Vjen-'te-la-da-.fab-re-'a-noV orig. Gentile di Niccolo di Massio (b. c. 1370, Fabriano, Papal States—d. 1427, Rome) Italian painter. He was probably trained in the Lombardy region. In 1409 he was commissioned to decorate the Doges’ Palace in Venice with historical frescoes, now lost. His most important fresco cycle, also destroyed, was in the church of St. John Lateran in Rome. His major sur¬ viving painting is the celebrated Strozzi Altarpiece (1423), featuring The Adoration of the Magi. Its combination of naturalism and rich ornamen¬ tation influenced Italian artists throughout the century, notably Fra Angelico and Benozzo Gozzoli, and established Gentile as one of Italy’s greatest proponents of the International Gothic style. He was the most important Italian painter of the first quarter of the 15th century.