an image that comes to life. From
Golem (right) in the German film Der Golem ( 1920)
COURTESY OF FRIEDRICH-WILHELM MURNAU-STIFTUNG, WIESBADEN; PHOTOGRAPH, MUSEUM OF MODERN ART FILM STILLS ARCHIVE, NEW VORK
Golgi Vg6l-je\, Camillo (b. July 7, 1843/44, Corteno, Italy—d. Jan. 21, 1926, Pavia) Italian physician and cytologist. He devised a way to stain nerve tissue and with it discov¬ ered a neuron, now called the Golgi cell, that has many short, branching extensions (dendrites) and connects other neurons. This led to identifica¬ tion of the neuron as the basic struc¬ tural unit of the nervous system. He also discovered the Golgi tendon organ (the point at which sensory nerve fibres branch out within a ten¬ don) and the Golgi apparatus (a cell organelle that packages large mol¬ ecules for transport). He shared a 1906 Nobel Prize with Santiago Ramon y Cajal (b. 1852—d. 1934).
Golgotha See Calvary
goliard Vgol-yord, 'go-b-.ardV Any of the wandering students and cler¬ ics in medieval England, France, and Germany remembered for their satirical verses and poems in praise of debauchery and against the church and pope. Renegades of no fixed abode, chiefly interested in riotous living, they described themselves as followers of the legendary Bishop Golias. By a series of decrees (from 1227), the church eventually revoked their clerical privileges. Carmina
Golgi, 1906
COURTESY OF THE WELLCOME TRUSTEES
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
778 I Golitsyn ► Gondwana
Burana is a collection of 13th-century Latin goliard poems and songs; some were translated by John Addington Symonds as Wine, Women, and Song (1884), and some were set in a famous cantata by Carl Orff (1937). In the 14th century the term came to mean jongleur, or minstrel.
Golitsyn, Vasily (Vasilyevich), Prince (b. 1643, Russia—d. May 2, 1714, Kholmogory, Russia) Russian statesman and chief adviser to Sophia Alekseyevna. After commanding in the Ukraine, he served in the court of Fyodor III and reorganized the Russian army. When Sophia became regent in 1682, she appointed her lover Golitsyn head of the foreign office. He negotiated an alliance with Poland (1686) against the Ottoman Turks but failed in his two campaigns against the Turks (1687, 1689). He also concluded the Treaty of Nerchinsk with China. In 1689 he was exiled to Siberia after a coup displaced Sophia and placed Peter I on the throne.
Golitsyn family \g3-'lyet-s3n\ Russian noble family descended from the 14th-century Lithuanian grand duke Gediminas. Three members played prominent roles as statesmen around the time of Peter I the Great (r. 1682-1725). Vasily Golitsyn was chief adviser to Peter’s regent, Sophia Alekseyevna. Boris Golitsyn (1654-1714) was court chamberlain (1676) and Peter’s tutor; he participated in the coup that placed Peter on the throne and was associated with the major achievements of Peter’s early reign. Peter dismissed him after his despotic rule of a province in the lower Volga resulted in a major revolt. Dmitry Golitsyn (1665-1737) held sev¬ eral posts under Peter from 1697 but opposed Peter’s reforms and in 1724 was deprived of all public duties. In 1727 he became a member of the Supreme Privy Council, which governed for Peter II until his death (1730). He urged the council to offer the throne to Anna Ivanovna if she would sign a set of conditions transferring crucial prerogatives to the council. She initially agreed, then dissolved the council. He was condemned to death (1736) for his antiautocratic beliefs, but Anna commuted his sen¬ tence to life imprisonment.
Gollancz \g9-'lants. Sir Victor (b. April 9, 1893, London, Eng.—d. Feb. 8, 1967, London) British publisher, writer, and humanitarian. Bom to a family of orthodox Jews, Gollancz evolved a religious outlook strongly influenced by Christian ethics. In 1928 he founded the publishing firm of Victor Gollancz, Ltd., issuing best-sellers and works supporting his favoured causes, including social welfare, pacifism, and abolition of capital punishment. Through the Left Book Club, which he founded in 1936, he worked against fascism, and after World War II he led relief efforts.
Goltzius \'golt-se-ies\, Hendrick (b. 1558, Mulebrecht, Neth.—d. Jan. 1, 1617, Haarlem) Dutch printmaker and painter. He set up his own copperplate-engraving business in Haarlem and became the leading mas¬ ter of Dutch Mannerist engraving. His early works included reproductions of prints by Albrecht Durer and Lucas van Leyden. Among his best-known original prints are an engraving of the Farnese Hercules (c. 1592), the chiaroscuro woodcut Hercules Killing Cacus (1588), and the series Roman Heroes (1586). His miniature portrait drawings are outstanding, and his landscape drawings anticipate the great 17th-century landscapes. His paintings, done late in his career, are less impressive, but his tech¬ nique as an engraver was unsurpassed.
Gomal Pass See Gumal Pass
Gombrowicz Vgom-'bro-vechV, Witold (b. Aug. 4, 1904, Maloszyce, Russian Empire—d. July 25, 1969, Vence, France) Polish novelist, story writer, and dramatist. He is best known for his novel Ferdydurke (1937). He spent 24 years (1939-63) in voluntary exile in Buenos Aires, Arg., and later settled in France. His often bizarre and satirical works explore themes of sadomasochistic dependency and innate human immaturity, in sometimes eccentric prose. His writings were long banned in Poland, and he published his postwar works abroad, including the absurdist satires Trans-Atlantyk (1953), Pornografia (1960), and Kosmos (1965). His dra¬ mas anticipated the Theatre of the Absurd.
Gomel See Homyel
Gomez \'go-mas \, Juan Vicente (b. 1857/64, San Antonio de Tachira, Venez.—d. Dec. 17, 1935, Maracay) Dictator of Venezuela (1908-35). Though he had almost no formal education, he rose to power by joining a private army that captured Caracas and the government. In 1908 he seized control from his former commander; thereafter he ruled either as president or through puppet governments until his death. Under Gomez, Venezuela achieved a measure of independence and economic progress, but he controlled the nation through force and terror. He was reputedly the wealthiest man in South America at the time of his death.
Gomorrah See Sodom and Gomorrah
Gompers, Samuel (b. Jan. 27,
1924, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.)
British-born U.S. labour leader, first president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). He immigrated to New York City with his family in 1863, where he became a cigar maker and a union organizer. Known for his opposition to radicalism,
Gompers argued that unions should avoid political involvement and focus on economic goals, bringing about change through strikes and boycotts. He stressed the primacy of the national organization over local and international affiliations, and he emphasized the need for written con¬ tracts. In 1886 he led the national organization of cigar makers out of the Knights of Labor to form the AFL, of which he served as president from 1886 to 1924 (except 1895). See also AFL-CIO.
Gomutka \go-'mul-k9\, Wtadysfaw (b. Feb. 6, 1905, Bialobrzegi, near Krosno, Pol., Austria-Hungary—d. Sept. 1, 1982, Warsaw, Pol.) Leader of the Polish Communist Party (1956-70). In 1926 he joined the underground Communist Party and became a union organizer. In World War II he was active in the communist underground in Warsaw. After the Soviet liberation of Poland, he ascended through the party ranks quickly. Though ruthless in eliminating opposition to communist rule, he publicly opposed some Soviet policies and was accused of “nationalist deviation” by Joseph Stalin in 1948 and arrested in 1951. He was rehabilitated in 1956 and elected party first secretary. At first universally supported, he adopted halfhearted reforms that were ultimately disappointing. In 1970 he was ousted along with other top leaders following workers’ riots over food prices.