ALETRINO, ARNOLD – A Dutch physician and professor of criminal anthropology at the University of Amsterdam; also served officially as surgeon to the city police and fire departments; born in Amsterdam, April 1, 1858. He is one of the leaders, in...
ALEX, EPHRAIM – Founder of the Jewish Board of Guardians, London; born in Cheltenham, 1800; died in London, Nov. 13, 1882. He was a successful business man, which fact eminently fitted him for the great charitable work to which he chiefly...
ALEXA – 1. A foreign jurist of the third century, who discussed with the Palestinian amora R. Mana II. the question of collecting disputed debts in the absence of the debtor, as practised under the rabbinic law in Palestine and under...
ALEXANDER THE GREAT – The celebrated conqueror of the East, 356-323 B.C. By introducing Hellenic culture into Syria and Egypt, he had probably more influence on the development of Judaism than any one individual not a Jew by race. Yet, curiously...
ALEXANDER I., of Judea – See Alexander Jannæus.
ALEXANDER II., of Judea – Born about 100 B.C.; died 47 B.C. He was the eldest son of Aristobulus II. and son-in-law of Hyrcanus. Upon the conquest of Jerusalem by Pompey in 63, he and his parents, brothers, and sisters were sent to Rome as prisoners of...
ALEXANDER, Son of Herod – Born about 35 B.C.; died about 7 B.C. His mother was the Hasmonean princess Mariamne. The unfortunate fate which persistently pursued the Hasmonean house overtook this prince also. As heir presumptive to the throne by right of...
ALEXANDER II., POPE – Family name Anselmo Baggio; born at Milan; died April 20, 1073. He became pope in 1061, succeeding Nicholas II., and ruled until 1073. He was elected upon the proposal of Hildebrand, who later became his successor, and...
ALEXANDER III., POPE – See Popes, Attitude of.
ALEXANDER IV., POPE – Was Count Rinaldo di Segni prior to his elevation to the pontifical throne in 1254, at a time of great turbulence; he ruled until his death, at Viterbo, Italy, May 25, 1261. He attempted to unite the Greek and Latin churches,...
ALEXANDER VI., POPE – See Popes, Attitude of.
ALEXANDER VII., POPE – See Popes, Attitude of.
ALEXANDER VIII., POPE – See Popes, Attitude of.
ALEXANDER I., PAVLOVICH, Emperor of Russia – Born at St. Petersburg, Dec. 23, 1777; died at Taganrog, Dec. 1, 1825. During his reign (1801-25) more measures for internal reform were inaugurated than under any of his predecessors, from the days of Peter the Great (died...
ALEXANDER II., NIKOLAIEVICH, Emperor of Russia – His Reforms. Born at St. Petersburg, April 29, 1818; assassinated there March 13, 1881. He succeeded his father, Nicholas I., March 2, 1855, before the end of the Crimean war, and when peace was concluded reforms of all kinds...
ALEXANDER III., ALEXANDROVICH, Emperor of Russia – His Reactionary Tendencies. Born at St. Petersburg, March 10, 1845; died at Livadia, Nov. 1, 1894. He ascended the throne March 14, 1881, the day after the assassination of his father, Alexander II. The terrible fate of the...
ALEXANDER – An English family of printers and translators that flourished during the latter part of the eighteenth century and at the beginning of the nineteenth. The founder of the firm was probably A. Alexander (ben Judah Loeb), whose...
ALEXANDER – An amora. See Alexandri (Alexandra).
ALEXANDER OF APHRODISIAS – Greek commentator on Aristotle; flourished at the end of the second century and at the beginning of the third, in the reign of the emperors Septimus Severus and Caracalla. He was surnamed "the Exegete" and "Aphrodisiensis"; the...
ALEXANDER BALAS, King of Syria – Date of birth unknown; died 145 B.C. A youth of lowly origin, he was set up as a pretender to the throne of Syria as being the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, in 153 B.C., in opposition to the Seleucid Demetrius Soter. The...
ALEXANDER, BERNHARD – Hungarian writer and professor of philosophy and esthetics; born at Budapest April 13, 1850. He was educated in his native town, and later attended German universities, pursuing chiefly the study of philosophy, esthetics, and...
ALEXANDER, THE FALSE – A pretender to the throne of Judea. About 4 B.C., a Jewish youth living in Sidon and reared by a Roman freedman claimed the throne. He asserted that he was Alexander, the son of Herod and Mariamne, pretending that the assassins...
ALEXANDER DE FRANCISCIS, HEBRÆUS – Author and bishop at Forli; lived in Rome in the sixteenth century. His Jewish name was Elisha de Roma. After his baptism he entered the order of the Dominican friars, in which he distinguished himself as an orator. Pope Clement...
ALEXANDER THE GREAT – See page 341.
ALEXANDER OF HALES (Alexander Alensis) – An English theologian and a member of the Franciscan order; born in the county of Gloucester; died in Paris, 1245. He was educated at the latter place, where he afterward became a teacher. Alexander may be considered as the...