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Charron, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Charron, Pierre pyĕr shärôNˈ [key], 1541–1603, French Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher. He was an important contributor to 17th-century theological thought, combining an individual form...

Anne de Beaujeu

(Encyclopedia)Anne de Beaujeu də bōzhöˈ [key], c.1460–1522, regent of France, daughter of the French King Louis XI. With her husband, Pierre de Beaujeu, duc de Bourbon, she acted as regent for her brother, Ch...

Maine de Biran

(Encyclopedia)Maine de Biran mĕn də bēräNˈ [key], 1766–1824, French philosopher, member of the Council of Five Hundred (1797), and councilor of state (1816). His real name was Marie François Pierre Gonthier...

Flourens, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Flourens, Pierre (Marie Jean Pierre Flourens) pyĕr flo͞oräNsˈ [key], 1794–1867, French physiologist. He demonstrated the respiratory center in the medulla and the function of the cerebellum in m...

Étaix, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Étaix, Pierre, 1928–2016, French film actor and director. He excelled at highly physical slapstick comedy, influenced by his background as a circus and cabaret performer, and by Buster Keaton and C...

Fort-de-France

(Encyclopedia)Fort-de-France fôr-də-fräNs [key], city, capital of the French overseas dept. of Martinique, West Indies. It is a ...

Argenson, Marc Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d'

(Encyclopedia)Argenson, Marc Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d' märk pyĕr də vwäyāˈ də pōmēˈ kôNt därzhäNsôNˈ [key], 1696–1764, French statesman and patron of literature; younger brother of René ...

Louÿs, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Louÿs, Pierre pyĕr lo͞oēˈ [key], 1870–1925, French writer of the Parnassian school, whose real name was Pierre Louis. His early poems, collected as Astarté (1891), first appeared in the Conque...

Bédier, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Bédier, Joseph zhôzĕfˈ bādyāˈ [key], 1864–1938, French authority on medieval literature. He was professor at the Collège de France and a member of the French Academy. His reconstruction, in ...

Laplace, Pierre Simon, marquis de

(Encyclopedia)Laplace, Pierre Simon, marquis de pyĕr sēmôNˈ märkēˈ də läpläsˈ [key], 1749–1827, French astronomer and mathematician. At 18 he went to Paris, proved his gift for mathematical analysis to...