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Broussel, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Broussel, Pierre pyĕr bro͞osĕlˈ [key], c.1575–1654, councillor of the Parlement of Paris under Louis XIII and Louis XIV. His opposition to the tax program proposed by Cardinal Mazarin made him p...

Pierre, Abbé

(Encyclopedia)Pierre, Abbé äbāˈ pyĕr [key], 1912–2007, French priest and social activist, b. Lyons as Henri Antoine Grouès. Renouncing a wealthy inheritance to become a Capuchin monk in 1931, he left the mo...

Chaumette, Pierre Gaspard

(Encyclopedia)Chaumette, Pierre Gaspard pyĕr gäspärˈ shōmĕtˈ [key], 1763–94, French Revolutionary. A member of the Cordeliers, he collaborated with Jacques Hébert to eliminate the royalists and to introdu...

Fermat, Pierre de

(Encyclopedia)Fermat, Pierre de pyĕr də fĕrmäˈ [key], 1601–65, French mathematician. A magistrate whose avocation was mathematics, Fermat is known as a founder of modern number theory and probability theory....

Fournier, Pierre Simon

(Encyclopedia)Fournier, Pierre Simon pyĕr sēmôNˈ fo͞ornyāˈ [key], 1712–68, Parisian type founder. Fournier devised the first point system for measuring and naming sizes of type in 1737. He designed a numbe...

Henry, Pierre Georges

(Encyclopedia)Henry, Pierre Georges, 1927–2017, French composer noted for his contributions to electronic music. He studied with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservatory, where he met Pierre...

Aubusson, Pierre d'

(Encyclopedia)Aubusson, Pierre d' pyĕr dōbüsôNˈ [key], 1423–1503, French soldier, a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, and grand master of the Knights Hospitalers (1476–1503). In 1480 he valiantly defe...

Mendès-France, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Mendès-France, Pierre pyĕr măNdĕsˈ-fräNs [key], 1907–82, French statesman. A lawyer and economist, he entered (1932) the chamber of deputies as a Radical Socialist. In World War II he was a pi...

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,...

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