Pringsheim, Nathanael, 1823-94, German botanist, one of the founders of the scientific study of algae. He made important discoveries in the morphology and physiology of plants, especially in the fields of reproduction and evolution. He founded the German Botanical Society and the Jahrbücher für wissenschaftliche Botanik. His treatises are collected in Gesammelte Abhandlungen (4 vol., 1895-96).

Greene, Nathanael, 1742-86, American Revolutionary general, b. Potowomut (now Warwick), R.I. An iron founder, he became active in colonial politics and served (1770-72, 1775) in the Rhode Island assembly. At the beginning of the American Revolution he commanded a detachment of militia at the siege of Boston and was in charge of the city after the British evacuation (1776). Greene helped plan the defense of New York (1776), but illness kept him from the battle of Long Island. He was with Washington (1776-77) at Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Valley Forge. In Feb., 1778, he became quartermaster general while still holding his field command; he reorganized the department, found supplies for the army, and rendered fine service in this capacity. His notable ability at organization also appeared in his fieldwork. He fought (1778) at Monmouth and in the Rhode Island campaign and was president (1780) of the court-martial board that sentenced Major John André. After Gates was defeated at Camden (1780), Greene became the commander in the Carolina campaign. He reorganized the Southern army, and he and his lieutenants (notably Daniel Morgan and Henry Lee), with aid of partisan bands under Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, and Andrew Pickens, turned the tide in Carolina. Greene's forces were defeated at Guilford Courthouse, Hobkirks Hill, and Eutaw Springs, but each time the British victory was reversed, and he pushed south to surround Charleston until the British evacuated it (1782). The campaign is generally considered an example of excellent strategy, and Greene's generalship is much admired. To get supplies for the Continental Army, Greene often had been forced to endorse personal notes. After the war the dishonesty of a contractor forced him to sell his estates to honor those pledges. The people of Georgia, however, gave him a plantation.

Nathanael, in the New Testament, disciple mentioned only in St. John's Gospel and plausibly identified with St. Bartholomew.

West, Nathanael, 1903-40, American novelist, whose real name was Nathan Weinstein, b. New York City, grad. Brown Univ., 1924. An innovative, highly original author, West revealed the sterility and grotesqueness underlying the American dream; his vision has profoundly influenced subsequent writers. After spending two years in Paris, he worked as a hotel manager in New York. His first novel, The Dream Life of Balso Snell (1931), is a garish satire that foreshadowed the work to follow. Miss Lonelyhearts (1933), his most successful novel, relates the painful life of a columnist for the lovelorn whose misguided priestliness leads him to a tragic and ironic involvement with his suffering correspondents. He also edited and wrote for several magazines and in 1935 moved to Hollywood, where he became a scriptwriter. A Cool Million (1934) was West's bitter indictment of a materialistic world. His last novel, The Day of the Locust (1939), presents a gallery of horrifying misfits living in a vacuous, surreal Hollywood atmosphere. West was never a commercial success in his own time, but his popularity rose after his premature death at 37 in an automobile accident. The Complete Works of Nathanael West was published in 1957.

orig. Nathan Weinstein

(born Oct. 17, 1903, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 22, 1940, near El Centro, Calif.) U.S. writer. He attended Brown University and was supporting himself as a hotel manager, giving free or low-rent rooms to struggling fellow writers, when he wrote the novella Miss Lonelyhearts (1933), about an advice columnist whose attempts to solace his correspondents end in ironic defeat. A Cool Million (1934) mocks the American dream as popularized by Horatio Alger. His last novel, The Day of the Locust (1939), depicts the savagery lurking beneath the Hollywood dream. Though not widely read until after his death in an auto accident at age 37, West is now considered a major American novelist.

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orig. Nathan Weinstein

(born Oct. 17, 1903, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Dec. 22, 1940, near El Centro, Calif.) U.S. writer. He attended Brown University and was supporting himself as a hotel manager, giving free or low-rent rooms to struggling fellow writers, when he wrote the novella Miss Lonelyhearts (1933), about an advice columnist whose attempts to solace his correspondents end in ironic defeat. A Cool Million (1934) mocks the American dream as popularized by Horatio Alger. His last novel, The Day of the Locust (1939), depicts the savagery lurking beneath the Hollywood dream. Though not widely read until after his death in an auto accident at age 37, West is now considered a major American novelist.

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(born Aug. 7, 1742, Potowumut, R.I.—died June 19, 1786, Mulberry Grove, Ga., U.S.) American general. He served in the colonial legislature and as commander of the colonial militia (1775). He led troops in the Continental Army at Boston and New York, then fought in the battles at Trenton, Brandywine, and Germantown. He succeeded Gen. Horatio Gates as commander in chief of the southern army (1778), and his strategy so weakened the British troops that Gen. Charles Cornwallis abandoned plans to conquer North Carolina (1781). Greene began the reconquest of inner South Carolina, and by late June 1781 he had forced the British back to Charleston. He presided at the court-martial of John André in the Benedict Arnold affair (1780).

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(born Aug. 7, 1742, Potowumut, R.I.—died June 19, 1786, Mulberry Grove, Ga., U.S.) American general. He served in the colonial legislature and as commander of the colonial militia (1775). He led troops in the Continental Army at Boston and New York, then fought in the battles at Trenton, Brandywine, and Germantown. He succeeded Gen. Horatio Gates as commander in chief of the southern army (1778), and his strategy so weakened the British troops that Gen. Charles Cornwallis abandoned plans to conquer North Carolina (1781). Greene began the reconquest of inner South Carolina, and by late June 1781 he had forced the British back to Charleston. He presided at the court-martial of John André in the Benedict Arnold affair (1780).

Learn more about Greene, Nathanael with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Nathanael is a male given name that means "gift of God" (from Hebrew natan "(he) have given" + el "God").

It may be spelled in various fashions including Nathaniel and Nathanial. Nathanael is also commonly shortened to Nathan, Nate or Nat.

Famous people with this name

• Nathanael — In the Gospel of John, one of the Twelve Apostles; usually identified with Bartholomew of the other gospels.
• Nathaniel Bowditch — mathematician, author of the American Practical Navigator, and father of modern maritime navigation
• Nathanael Greene - a Major General of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and a major player in the Battle of Guilford Court House
• Nathaniel Hawthorne — author of The Scarlet Letter
• Nathaniel Stern - interdisciplinary artist
• Nathaniel Parker - Actor

Fictional characters

• Nathaniel (Bartimaeus trilogy) — a character in Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy
• Nathaniel, character in Enchanted (2007 film)
• Nate Archibald (Gossip Girl) - also known as Nathaniel Fitzwilliam Archibald, a character in the best selling Gossip Girl book series
• Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo - the main character in James Fenimore Cooper's novel The Last of The Mohicans
• Nathaniel Fisher, sr. and his son Nathaniel "Nate" Fisher, Jr. — characters in the television series Six Feet Under
• Nathaniel Taggart - character in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

See also

• Nathan