ghost Soul or specter of a deceased person. Belief in ghosts has been common since ancient times and is reflected in folklore around the world. It is based on the notion that the spirit is separable from the body and can continue its existence after the death of the body. Ghosts are believed to inhabit the netherworld and to be capable of returning to the world of the living, appearing as living beings or in a nebulous likeness of the deceased. They are thought to be especially likely to haunt places or people connected with some strong emotion of their past life, such as fear, remorse, or the terror of a violent death. The traditional visual manifes¬ tations of haunting include ghostly apparitions, the movement of objects, or the appearance of strange lights; auditory signs include disembodied laughter and screams, knocking, or footsteps.
Ghost Dance Nineteenth-century Native American cult. It represented an attempt by Indian peoples in the western U.S. to rehabilitate their tra¬ ditional cultures. The Ghost Dance arose in 1889, when the Paiute prophet-
dreamer Wovoka announced the imminent return of the dead (hence “ghost”), the ousting of the whites, and the restoration of Indian lands, food supplies, and way of life, all of which would be hastened by dances and songs revealed in Wovoka’s spiritual visions. The Ghost Dance spread rapidly. It coincided with the Sioux outbreak of 1890, which culminated in the massacre at Wounded Knee, where the “ghost shirts” failed to pro¬ tect the wearers as promised by Wovoka. The cult soon became obsolete.
Ghudamis See Ghadamis
Ghulam Ahmad \'gu-lam-'ak-mad\, MTrza (b. c. 1839, Qadian, India—d. May 26, 1908, India) Indian Muslim leader, founder of the Ahmadiyyah sect. Born into a prosperous family, he led a life of contempla¬ tion and religious study. Claiming in 1889 to have had a special revelation from God, he gathered a small band of disciples. He declared himself to be the mahdi and the reincarnation of Muhammad, Jesus, and Krishna. He was opposed by the orthodox Muslim community, but a number of his teachings became the basis of the beliefs of the Ahmadiyyah. He attempted to estab¬ lish missionary organizations and schools on the Christian model but did not try to reconcile Christian and Muslim doctrine.
Gl Bill (of Rights) or Servicemen's Readjustment Act (1944) U.S. legislation that provided benefits to World War II veterans. Through the Veterans Administration (VA), the bill provided grants for school and college tuition, low-interest mortgage and small-business loans, job train¬ ing, hiring privileges, and unemployment payments. Amendments to the act provided for full disability coverage and the construction of additional VA hospitals. Later legislation extended the benefits to all who had served in the armed forces.
Giacometti \ja-k3-'me-te\, Alberto (b. Oct. 10, 1901, Borgonovo, Switz.—d. Jan. 11, 1966, Chur)
Swiss sculptor and painter. His father was a Post-Impressionist painter, and his brother Diego was a well-known furniture designer. After studying art in Geneva (1919-20) and Paris (1922-25), he developed a style related to the Cubist sculpture of Alexander Archipenko and the post- Cubist work of Jacques Lipchitz. His work also showed the influence of African and Oceanic art. After experimenting with abstraction in the 1930s, he became increasingly focused on finding ways to capture a sense of reality in sculpture. For Gia¬ cometti an artwork was to become an almost existential evocation of real¬ ity. By the 1940s he had developed his signature style, producing thin, attenuated sculptures of solitary, skeletal figures and heads. He became well known, especially in the U.S., through two exhibitions in New York City (1948, 1950) and an essay on his art by Jean-Paul Sartre. In 1963 he designed a stage set for a production of a Samuel Beckett play.
Giambologna \jam-bo-'lon-ya\ or Giovanni da Bologna or Jean Boulogne \bii-'16n y \ (b. 1529, Douai, Spanish Neth.—d. Aug. 13, 1608, Florence) Flemish-born Italian sculptor. After studies under Jacques Dubroeucq, he went to Rome in 1550, where his style was influenced by Hellenistic sculpture and the works of Michelangelo; he settled in Florence in 1552. He produced many of his most important works for the Medici family, but it was the Fountain of Neptune (1563-66) in Bologna that made him famous. His bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo I (1587-93), the first of its kind made in Florence, became a pattern for similar statues all over Europe. His garden sculptures—notably for Florence’s Boboli Gardens and for three Medici villas, including the colossal Apennine (1570-80) at Pratolino—enjoyed great popularity. He was also a prolific manufacturer of bronze statuettes; many of his working models still survive. He was the outstanding sculptor of Italian Mannerism.
Giannini \je-9-'ne-ne\, A(madeo) P(eter) (b. May 6, 1870, San Jose, Calif., U.S.—d. June 3, 1949, San Mateo, Calif.) U.S. banker and innovator in personal banking products. The son of Italian immigrants, he left school at age 13 to work in the family wholesale produce business,
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760 i giant ► Gibraltar
becoming a partner in 1889. In 1904 he and five partners founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco. Their bank followed an unorthodox pro¬ gram of making loans to small farmers and businessmen and actively soliciting customers. In 1909 he began buying banks elsewhere in Cali¬ fornia, eventually creating the first statewide branch-banking system in the U.S. He established the Transamerica Corporation in 1928. After acquiring a second network of branch banks, he merged the two in 1930 under the name Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association. By the time of his death, Bank of America had more than 500 branch banks, with more than $6 billion in deposits.
giant See gigantism
giant order See colossal order
giant sequoia See big tree
giant silkworm moth See saturniid moth
giant star Star with a relatively large radius for its mass and tempera¬ ture; this yields a large radiating area, so such stars are bright. Subclasses include supergiant stars, red giants (with low temperatures, but very bright), and subgiants (with slightly reduced radii and brightness). Some giants are hundreds of thousands of times brighter than the Sun. Giants and supergiants may have masses 10-30 times that of the Sun and vol¬ umes millions of times greater and are thus low-density stars.
Giap, Vo Nguyen See Vo Nguyen Giap
Giardia lamblia \je-'ar-de-9-'lam-ble-9\ or G. intestinalis Single- celled protozoan parasite. Pear- or beet-shaped, the cells have two nuclei and eight flagella and attach with a sucking organ to human intestinal mucous membranes. They cause the disease giardiasis. Generally spread when traces of human feces containing the parasite are ingested, giardia¬ sis is most common among children in close contact with other children, but it also occurs among adults. Diarrhea, pain, and distension of the stomach may occur. It is common wherever there is contamination of domestic or surface water in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, and it is a major cause of diarrhea worldwide. Beaver feces are often responsible for gia¬ rdiasis among campers who take water from lakes and rivers.
gibbon Vgi-banN Any of about six species (genus Hylobates) of lesser APES (family Hylobatidae), found in Indo-Malayan forests. Gibbons use their long arms to swing from branch to branch. They walk erect on the ground, live in small groups, and feed on shoots and fruits, as well as on some insects, birds’ eggs, and young birds. They have long hair and are about 16-26 in. (40-65 cm) long.