Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/150

ALEXANDER ALEXANDER I., King of Serbia, born Aug. 14, 1876; son of King Milan I. In 1899 Milan abdicated and proclaimed Alexander king, under a regency till he should attain his majority (18 years). On April 13, 1893, when in his 17th year, Alexander suddenly took the royal authority into his own hands, and summarily dismissed the regent. On Aug. 5, 1900, he married Mme. Draga Maschin. On the night of June 10, 1905, military conspirators invaded the royal palace and the king and queen were killed.

ALEXANDER ARCHIPELAGO, or ALEXANDER ISLANDS, a group of islands on the W. coast of North America, extending from 54° 40' N. to 58° 25' N.; belonging to Alaska Territory. The principal islands are Chichagof and Prince of Wales.

ALEXANDER, BOYD, an English naturalist and explorer, born in 1873. He was educated at Radley College. He enlisted in the army and later served with the Gold Coast Constabulary. His chief interest was in exploration, and he made many journeys to many parts of the world, especially to less known regions of Africa. In 1909 he explored several islands in the Gulf of Guinea and made a special study of the volcanic mountains in the Kameroon. He studied and described many new species of birds. He made the first ascent of Mount St. Isabel. The Royal Geographical Society of Antwerp awarded him a gold medal in 1907, and he received also gold medals from the Royal Geographical Society of London in 1908. He was murdered by natives in May, 1910, while carrying on explorations in the French Congo. He wrote much on scientific subjects and also "From the Najar to the Nile" (1907).

ALEXANDER, MRS. CECIL FRANCES (HUMPHREY), an Irish poet, born in County Wicklow in 1818. She is best known as a writer of hymns and religious poems. Among the most noted are the hymns "Roseate Hue of Early Dawn" and "All Things Bright and Beautiful." Her most famous poem is "The Burial of Moses." She died in Londonderry, Oct. 12, 1895.

ALEXANDER, SIR GEORGE, an English actor and manager, born at Reading, England, in 1858, He was educated in the public schools at Stirling and Edinburgh. In 1881 he joined Henry Irving's company at the Lyceum Theater, where he exhibited unusual talent and won pronounced success. He accompanied Irving to the United States in 1884. Later he managed several of the most important theaters in London, and he was said to have produced more original plays by English authors than any other manager. He was especially notable in Shakespearean plays. He was president of the Royal General Theatrical Fund.

ALEXANDER, JOHN WHITE, an American artist, born in Allegheny City, Pa., in 1856. He early showed great talent in drawing, and at the age of 18 became an apprentice in the art department of "Harper's Weekly." After several years he went to Munich to study there as well as in other European cities for several years. He returned to New York in 1881, and at once achieved great success in portrait painting. He exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1893 and made a brilliant success. He spent part of his time in Paris and part in New York. In 1901 he was created Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, and in 1902 became a member of the National Academy of Design, of which he was president from 1909 until his death. A member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, he was awarded honorary degrees by Princeton and other universities, and received gold medals at the Paris Exposition and at the World's Fair in St. Louis. He was one of the most talented modern painters and exercised great influence on the development of art in the United States. He died in 1915.

ALEXANDER, MRS., pseudonym of ANNIE HECTOR, an Irish novelist, born in Dublin in 1825. She was a prolific and popular novelist. Her books include "The Wooing O't" (1873); "Ralph Wilton's Weird" (1875); "Her Dearest Foe" (1876); "The Freres" (1882); "A Golden Autumn" (1897); "A Winning Hazard" (1897). She died in 1902.

ALEXANDER SEVERUS, a Roman emperor, born in 205 A. D.; was the cousin and adopted son of Heliogabalus, whom he succeeded in 222. He sought the society of the learned; Paulus and Ulpianus were his counselors; Plato and Cicero were, next to Horace and Vergil, his favorite authors. Although a pagan, he reverenced the doctrines of Christianity. Beloved as he was by the citizens on account of his equity, he soon became an object of hatred to the unruly prætorian guards. His first expedition (231-233) against Artaxerxes, King of Persia, was terminated by a speedy overthrow of the enemy; but during one which he undertook in 234 against the Germans on the Rhine an insurrection broke out among his troops, headed by Maximus, in which Alexander was murdered (235).