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Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de

(Encyclopedia)Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de pyĕr ōgüstăNˈ karôNˈ də bōmärshāˈ [key], 1732–99, French dramatist. Originally a watchmaker, he rose to wealth and position among the nobility. His...

Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Jacques Henri

(Encyclopedia)Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Jacques Henri zhäk äNrēˈ bĕrnärdăNˈ də săN–pyĕrˈ [key], 1737–1814, French naturalist and author. He was a friend of Rousseau, by whom he was strongly influen...

Laclos, Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de

(Encyclopedia)Laclos, Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de pyĕr äNbrwäzˈ fräNswäˈ shôdĕrlōˈ də läklōˈ [key], 1741–1803, French novelist and general, known as Choderlos de Laclos. He is best known...

Céloron de Blainville, Pierre Joseph de

(Encyclopedia)Céloron de Blainville, Pierre Joseph de pyĕr zhôzĕfˈ də sālərôNˈ də blăNvēlˈ [key], 1693–1759, French Canadian soldier, b. Montreal. He was commandant at Michilimackinac (1734–42), D...

Barnave, Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie

(Encyclopedia)Barnave, Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie äNtwänˈ pyĕr zhōzĕfˈ märēˈ bärnävˈ [key], 1761–93, French revolutionary. A member of the States-General of 1789 from Grenoble, he was a brilliant sp...

Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant

(Encyclopedia)Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant bōˈrĭgärd [key], 1818–93, Confederate general, b. St. Bernard parish, La., grad. West Point, 1838. As engineer on the staff of Winfield Scott in the Mexican Wa...

de Gennes, Pierre-Gilles

(Encyclopedia)de Gennes, Pierre-Gilles, 1932–2007, French physicist, Ph.D. Center for Nuclear Studies at Saclay, France, 1958. He was a professor at the Univ. of Paris, Orsay, from 1961 to 1971, when he joined th...

Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre pyĕr tāyärˈ də shärdăNˈ [key], 1881–1955, French paleontologist and philosopher. He entered (1899) the Jesuit order, was ordained (1911), and received a doctorate...

Boisguilbert, Pierre le Pesant, sieur de

(Encyclopedia)Boisguilbert, Pierre le Pesant, sieur de pyĕr lə pəzäNˈ syör də bwägēlbĕrˈ [key], 1646–1714, French economist. A local official of Rouen after 1689, he proposed a radical alteration of th...

Brissot de Warville, Jacques Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Brissot de Warville, Jacques Pierre zhäk pyĕr brēsōˈ də värvēlˈ [key], 1754–93, French revolutionary and journalist. He began his career by writing numerous pamphlets and books. His Théori...

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