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Radisson, Pierre Esprit

(Encyclopedia)Radisson, Pierre Esprit pyĕr ĕsprēˈ rädēsôNˈ [key], c.1632–1710, French explorer and fur trader in North America. He arrived in Canada in 1651. His journals, first published as the Voyages o...

Raffarin, Jean-Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Raffarin, Jean-Pierre zhäN-pyĕr räfärăNˈ [key], 1948–, French politician. From a political family, he began his career in business and served as a spokesman for a labor minister in the late 19...

Rampal, Jean-Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Rampal, Jean-Pierre, 1922–2000, French virtuoso flutist. He played in several chamber groups but was most celebrated as a soloist of great brilliance. ...

Pelletier, Pierre Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Pelletier, Pierre Joseph pyĕr zhôzĕfˈ pĕlətyāˈ [key], 1788–1842, French chemist. With J. B. Caventou, he was cofounder of alkaloid chemistry and codiscoverer of quinine, strychnine, brucine,...

Vergniaud, Pierre Victurnien

(Encyclopedia)Vergniaud, Pierre Victurnien pyĕr vēktürnyăNˈ vĕrnyōˈ [key], 1753–93, French revolutionary. A brilliant lawyer, he gained attention (1790) when defending peasants who had burned a castle. El...

Villeneuve, Pierre de

(Encyclopedia)Villeneuve, Pierre de pyĕr də vēlnövˈ [key], 1763–1806, French admiral. He commanded the rear guard of the fleet in the disastrous battle of Abu Qir (1798). His defeat at the battle of Trafalga...

Saint Pierre, town, St. Pierre and Miquelon

(Encyclopedia)Saint Pierre săN pyĕr [key], town (2006 pop. 5,509), capital of the French territorial collectivity of St. Pierre and Miquelon, on the E coast of St. Pierre island. St. Pierre is the administrative ...

Dolet, Étienne

(Encyclopedia)Dolet, Étienne ātyĕnˈ dôlāˈ [key], 1509–46, French scholar, painter, and printer of Lyons. He wrote treatises on French grammar, poems, a short history of Francis I, and works in Latin about ...

De Coster, Charles Théodore Henri

(Encyclopedia)De Coster, Charles Théodore Henri də kŏsˈtər, Fr. shärl tāōdôrˈ äNrēˈ də kôstĕrˈ [key], 1827–79, Belgian author, b. Munich. His collected legends from Flemish folklore (1857), writt...

Alembert, Jean le Rond d'

(Encyclopedia)Alembert, Jean le Rond d' zhäN lərôNˈ däläNbĕrˈ [key], 1717–83, French mathematician and philosopher. The illegitimate son of the chevalier Destouches, he was named for the St. Jean le Rond ...