Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) De Smet, Pierre Jean pyĕr zhäN də smĕtˈ [key], 1801–73, Jesuit missionary in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, b. Belgium. He emigrated to the United States in 1821, served his novitiate in Florissan...

(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...

(Encyclopedia) Maupertuis, Pierre Louis Moreau de pyĕr lwē môrōˈ də mōpĕrtüēˈ [key], 1698–1759, French mathematician and astronomer. For his skillful support of Newton's theory he was admitted to the Ro...

(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...

(Encyclopedia) Brodeur, Martin Pierre, 1972–, Canadian ice hockey player, b. Montreal. He became starting goalie for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1993 and played with them for 21 se...

(Encyclopedia) Saranac Lake, village (1990 pop. 5,377), Essex and Franklin counties, N N.Y., in the Adirondacks; settled c.1819 as a lumbering town, inc. 1892. It is a year-round resort community; tourism is the mai...

(Encyclopedia) Saint-Pierre, Charles Irénée Castel, Abbé de shärl ērānāˈ kästĕlˈ äbāˈ də săN-pyĕrˈ [key], 1658–1743, French social philosopher. An advocate of natural religion and toleration, he ...

(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...

(Encyclopedia) Marivaux, Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de pyĕrˈ kärlāˈ də shäNblēˈ də märēvōˈ [key], 1688–1763, French dramatist and novelist. He enjoyed popularity for a time with his numerous comedies...

(Encyclopedia) Sauvage, Jean-Pierre, 1944–, French chemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Strasbourg, 1971. He has spent his entire career as a researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research and a professor at the Uni...