Peter

Brook, Peter, 1925-, English theatrical director, b. London, grad. Oxford (1943). An innovative, unconventional, and controversial figure, Brook mounts energetic productions in which the entire stage is utilized and realistic sets are banished in favor of bold, abstract, and austere settings. His approach is extremely physical, and he often has his actors sing, play musical instruments, and perform acrobatics. After apprenticing in various repertory companies, he began his long association with what became (1961) the Royal Shakespeare Company with his production of Love's Labour's Lost (1946). Subsequent Shakespearean productions included Measure for Measure (1950), Titus Andronicus (1955), King Lear (1962), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1970), which was set in a kind of adult playground with trapezes, stilts, and spinning plates. Other Brook productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company included his staging of Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade (1964, Tony Award for best director), a play within a play set in the insane asylum housing the Marquis de Sade that examines both revolution and madness, and US (1966), an attack on U.S. involvement in Vietnam. During the 1960s, Brook's productions were influenced both by the shock tactics of Antonin Artaud and the analytical detachment of Bertolt Brecht.

Brook has also directed films, such as Moderato Cantabile (1960), Lord of the Flies (1963), and King Lear (1971); and operas, such as Faust and Eugene Onegin. In the 1970s, he founded the International Center of Theatre Research in Paris, an assembly of actors, dancers, musicians, and other performers of many nationalities. Their most recognized achievement was a nine-hour presentation of the Indian epic The Mahabharata (1985). Since then Brook has created a variety of other theatrical works, including a version of Oliver Sacks's The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1994); a production of Mozart's Don Giovanni (1998); a streamlined Hamlet (2000); Tierno Bokar (2005), a theater piece based on the life of a West African Sufi in the 1930s; and The Grand Inquisitor, a parable adapted from Dostoyevsky (2006). His books on the theater include Empty Space (1969), The Shifting Point (1987), and The Open Door (1995).

Arno, Peter, 1904-68, American cartoonist, b. New York City. Arno's satirical cartoons appeared in the New Yorker from 1925 until his death. He achieved a distinctive drawing style featuring heavily outlined figures. Notable among his urbane characterizations are the self-important executive and the generously endowed woman. His cartoons have been collected in Peter Arno's Parade (1929), Peter Arno's Hullabaloo (1930), Sizzling Platter (1949), and Lady in the Shower (1967).

Pindar, Peter: see Wolcot, John.

De Wint, Peter, 1784-1849, English landscape painter. He was a leading watercolorist. Most of De Wint's landscapes are distinctly English in subject and treatment, Lincolnshire scenes being favorites. A Cornfield and Landscape with Water (Victoria and Albert Mus.) are among his best-known works.

Pond, Peter, 1740-1807, American fur trader and explorer of the Old Northwest, b. Milford, Conn. He served in the French and Indian War and in 1765 became a western trader from Detroit. He later removed to Mackinac and made journeys (1773-75) to the upper Mississippi River country and to Wisconsin. He then went by way of Lake Superior N to the Saskatchewan River. In 1778 he went to the Athabaska district with stock pooled from several traders and established the first post in the region on the Athabaska River. Accused of the murder of a rival trader in 1782, Pond was acquitted when tried. He was included in the organization (1783-84) of the North West Company, but in 1788 withdrew in anger. Pond is best known for his maps of the country covered in his voyages, which he presented to Congress. The accusations that Pond was guilty of violence, dishonesty, and lawlessness appear at least partly unjust. His narratives appear in Five Fur Traders of the Northwest (ed. by C. M. Gates, 1933).

Waldo, Peter: see Waldenses.

Abelard, Peter, Fr. Pierre Abélard, 1079-1142, French philosopher and teacher, b. Le Pallet, near Nantes.

Life

Abelard went (c.1100) to Paris to study under William of Champeaux at the school of Notre Dame and soon attacked the ultrarealist position of his master with such success that William was forced to modify his teaching. Abelard became master at Notre Dame but, when deprived of his place, set himself up (1112) at a school on Mont-Ste-Geneviève, just outside the city walls. Abelard's fame as a dialectician attracted great numbers of students to Paris. This part of his career was cut short by his romance with Heloise, d. c.1164, the learned niece of Fulbert, canon of Notre Dame, who had hired Abelard as her tutor.

After Heloise bore a son, a secret marriage was held to appease her uncle. Fulbert's ill-treatment of Heloise led Abelard to remove her secretly to the convent at Argenteuil. Fulbert, who thought that Abelard planned to abandon her, had ruffians attack and emasculate him. Abelard sought refuge at Saint-Denis where he became a monk. In 1120 he left Saint-Denis to teach. At the instigation of his rivals, the Council of Soissons had his first theological work burned as heretical (1121). After a short imprisonment, he returned to Saint-Denis but fell out with the monks and built a hermitage near Troyes. To house the students who sought him out, he established a monastery, the Paraclete. When Abelard became abbot at Saint-Gildas-en-Rhuys, Brittany, he gave the Paraclete to Heloise, who became an abbess of a convent there.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux thought Abelard's influence dangerous and secured his condemnation by the Council of Sens (1140). Abelard appealed to the pope, who upheld the council. Abelard submitted and retired to Cluny. He was buried at the Paraclete, as was Heloise; their bodies were later moved to Père-Lachaise in Paris. The events of his life are chronicled in his autobiographical Historia calamitatum and revealed in the poignant letters of Heloise and Abelard (tr. by B. Radice, 1974), which for almost 800 years consisted of five of his letters and three of hers.

In 1980 a scholar examining a 15th-century letter-writing manual discovered that 113 unattributed fragments of love letters contained in a section of the book had actually been written by Abelard and Heloise during their affair. These letters have added to, but not changed, the understanding of the characters of each of the lovers and of their romance's rare and intense blend of the intellectual and the erotic.

Philosophy

A theological Platonist, Abelard emphasized Aristotle's dialectic method. His belief that the methods of logic could be applied to the truths of faith was in opposition to the mysticism of St. Bernard. He also opposed the extreme views of William of Champeaux and Roscelin on the problems of universals. His own solution, in which universals are considered as entities existent only in thought but with a basis in particulars, is called moderate realism and to some extent anticipates the conceptualism of St. Thomas Aquinas.

His most influential work was Sic et non, a collection of contradictory selections from Scripture and the Fathers of the Church. In his introduction to Sic et non, Abelard set a method of resolving these apparent contradictions, thereby making the work significant for the development of the scholastic method. This work formed the basis for the widely read Sentences of Peter Lombard, who may have been Abelard's pupil. Abelard was perhaps most important as a teacher; among his pupils were some of the celebrated men of the 12th cent., including John of Salisbury and Arnold of Brescia. Of Abelard's poetry only Latin hymns survive.

Ackroyd, Peter, 1949-, British author, b. London; studied Clare College, Cambridge (M.A., 1971) and Yale. A literary journalist, he wrote for the Spectator (1973-82) and has reviewed books for the London Times since 1986. His early work includes three volumes of poetry (1973, 1978, 1987), a polemic on literary modernism (1976), and a study of transvestism (1979). His first novel, The Great Fire of London (1982), was followed by The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde (1983), Hawksmoor (1985), Chatterton (1987), English Music (1992), Milton in America (1997), The Plato Papers (2000), The Clerkenwell Tales (2004), The Fall of Troy (2007), and The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein (2009). Typically novels of ideas that reflect an enormous range of intellectual interest and inquiry and that defy traditional realism, his fiction frequently deals with the active interplay between the past and the present and often uses the city of London as both locale and thematic touchstone. English literary figures and murder make frequent appearances in these works. Ackroyd also is a perceptive biographer whose subjects include Ezra Pound (1980, rev. ed. 1987), T. S. Eliot (1984), Charles Dickens (1990), William Blake (1995), Thomas More (1998), and J. M. W. Turner (2002). In addition, he has written a widely praised "biography" of London (2000), a wide-ranging study of the English literary and artistic imagination, Albion (2003), a historical cruise on the Thames (2008), and a retelling of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (2009) in contemporary English prose. Many of Ackroyd's literary critical essays are reprinted in The Collection (2001).

Lombard, Peter: see Peter Lombard.

Hurd, Peter, 1904-84, American painter, b. Roswell, N.Mex. Hurd left West Point to study art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He worked as apprentice to the painter N. C. Wyeth and married his daughter, the painter Henrietta Wyeth. Hurd is known for his realistic paintings of Western scenes and for his illustrations. He decorated the Big Springs, Tex., post office and the post office annex at Dallas, Tex., with mural paintings. His portrait of President Lyndon Johnson is in the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. Hurd is represented in the major American museums.

Handke, Peter, 1942-, Austrian novelist and playwright. His controversial, avant-garde works often reflect his ironic sense of the constricting limitations of language and reason and the chaos of actual human experience. His plays include Kaspar (1968), They Are Dying Out (1973), and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other (1994), which contains 400 characters and no dialogue. Among his other works are the novels Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (1970; tr. The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick, 1972), Die linkshändige Frau (1976; tr. The Left-Handed Woman, 1978), In einer dunklen Nacht ging ich aus meinem stillen Haus (1997; tr. On a Dark Night I Left My Silent House, 2000), and Der Bildverlust, oder, Durch die Sierra de Gredos (2002; tr. Crossing the Sierra de Gredos, 2007). Some of his other writings are a biographical account of his mother's illness, Wunschloses Unglück (1972; tr. A Sorrow beyond Dreams, 1975; also a theatrical monologue, 1977); the journal Weight of the World (1977, tr. 1984); the essay collection The Jukebox (tr. 1994); and the screenplays for Wim Wenders's Wrong Move (1979) and Wings of Desire (1987). The usually apolitical Handke set off a storm of protest in Europe with his long essay, A Journey to the Rivers (1996, tr. 1997), a pro-Serbian work about the civil war that accompanied Yugoslavia's disintegration.

Pázmány, Peter, 1570-1637, Hungarian churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Of a Calvinist family, he was converted to Catholicism in 1583, entered the Society of Jesus in 1587, and rose to become cardinal and prince primate of Hungary. He won back many Hungarians to the Catholic faith. He founded educational and monastic institutions.

Pelham, Peter, c.1695-1751, American engraver and painter, b. England; stepfather of John Singleton Copley. After studying and practicing in England, Pelham settled (c.1728) in Boston. He produced engravings of Cotton Mather and Increase Mather based on his own paintings. He also conducted a school.

Bienewitz, Peter: see Apianus, Petrus.

Flettner, Peter: see Flötner, Peter.

Flötner or Flettner, Peter, c.1485-1546, German medalist and artisan, possibly Swiss by birth. He was active in decorative sculpture, wood carving, and other crafts, making medals and plaques and furnishing designs of classical motifs for silversmiths. He was in Nuremberg by 1522 and did most of his work there, although he made two trips to Italy. Flötner is now regarded as a pioneer of the German Renaissance. His Kunstbuch was published in 1549. In the Metropolitan Museum are five of his bronze plaques illustrating biblical episodes.

Folger, Peter, 1617-90, British settler on Nantucket. He was associated with Thomas Mayhew on Martha's Vineyard, becoming missionary, schoolmaster, and surveyor. He moved to Nantucket in 1663, added other duties to those he possessed in Martha's Vineyard, and became a leader in the community. Folger was a Baptist and was opposed to the intolerance of the Massachusetts leaders. He wrote A Looking Glass for the Times (1676), which his grandson, Benjamin Franklin, described as a defense of liberty of conscience in "homespun verse—written with a good deal of decent plainness and manly freedom."

Fonda, Peter, 1939-, American actor. The son of Henry Fonda and brother of Jane Fonda, he made his screen debut in a forgettable 1963 feature. Several movies later he co-wrote and starred in the now-classic 1960s motorcycle odyssey Easy Rider (1969), an enormously successful film that largely typecast him as a laid-back biker. Fonda subsequently made a string of other films, including The Hired Hand (1971), a Western that also marked his directorial debut. He did not approach his earlier success for almost three decades, however, until he won critical and popular acclaim for his starring role in Ulee's Gold (1997). He is the father of actress Bridget Fonda.

Force, Peter, 1790-1868, American journalist and historian, b. near Paterson, N.J. He served in the War of 1812 and afterward established himself in Washington, D.C., as a printer. Entering local politics, he was at different times president of both the city council and the board of aldermen and was mayor of Washington (1836-40). His National Journal, established in 1823 to support John Quincy Adams for the presidency, continued as a daily from 1824 to 1831. He issued for many years the National Calendar, a yearbook of historical and statistical information, and edited four volumes of rare documents, Tracts and Other Papers Relating Principally to the Origin, Settlement, and Progress of the Colonies in North America (1836-46). His project for publishing early American documents, national, state, and private, dealing with colonial and American history down to 1789, was authorized by Congress but was discontinued before completion. The resulting American Archives (9 vol., 1837-53), the work by which Force is chiefly known, covers only the years 1774-76 but has proved indispensable to students of the American Revolution. Force's large collections were purchased by the Library of Congress.

Cooper, Peter, 1791-1883, American inventor, industrialist, and philanthropist, b. New York City. After achieving success in the glue business, Cooper, with two partners, erected (1829) the Canton Iron Works in Baltimore. There he constructed the Tom Thumb, one of the earliest locomotives built in the United States. His success in trials on the Baltimore & Ohio RR probably saved that pioneer line from bankruptcy. During the next 20 years, Cooper expanded his holdings, becoming a leader in the American iron industry, and in 1870 he was awarded the Bessemer gold medal for rolling the first iron for fireproof buildings. Cooper invented and patented other practical devices and processes. His faith in the success of the Atlantic cable led him to invest heavily in the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company after banks refused to finance the operation. He was president of this company for 20 years while he headed the North American Telegraph Company, which controlled more than half of the telegraph lines in the country. An outstanding leader in the civic affairs of New York City, Cooper led the successful fight to secure a public school system and did much to improve several of the municipal departments. His lasting monument is Cooper Union in New York City, built after his own plans to provide for education for the working classes. He supported the Greenback party in national politics, and in 1876 he was the party's presidential candidate, polling over 80,000 votes. Many of his addresses were collected in Ideas for a Science of Good Government (1883, repr. 1971). Abram S. Hewitt was his son-in-law, Peter Cooper Hewitt his grandson.

Cornelius, Peter, 1824-74, German composer and poet; follower of Liszt and Wagner. He wrote music criticism, songs, and poetry but is best known for his operas Der Barbier von Bagdad (1858) and Der Cid (1865).

Carey, Peter, 1943-, Australian novelist, b. near Melbourne. Carey's combination of science fiction and fantasy motifs with a realistic style, displayed in such short-story volumes as The Fat Man in History (1974), War Crimes (1979), and Collected Stories (1995), has invited comparison with such modern masters as Borges and Grass. In longer works of fiction, such as Bliss (1981, his first novel), Illywhacker (1985), and other books, Carey confronts the realities and myths of Australian history and society. Two later novels of Australia, the Victorian-style Oscar and Lucinda (1988) and The True History of the Kelly Gang (2001), a legandary outlaw's supposed memoir, won Booker Prizes. Carey's other novels include The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994); Jack Maggs (1997); My Life as a Fake (2003), a complex and ironic treatment of literary life; Theft: A Love Story (2006), which takes a similar approach to painting and the art market; and His Illegal Self (2008). Carey, who moved to New York in 1991 and has taught writing at New York Univ. and Barnard College, has also written screenplays, a children's book (1995), and 30 Days in Sydney (2001), a portrait of his one-time hometown.

Schöffer, Peter: see Fust, Johann.

Behrens, Peter, 1868-1940, German architect, influential in Europe in the evolution of the modern architectural style. He established before World War I a predominantly utilitarian type of architecture that at the same time achieved qualities of clarity and impressiveness. His factory buildings were among the earliest European works to base a simple and effective style upon the frank terms of modern construction. Behrens is known also for residences, for workers' apartment houses in Vienna, and for his pioneering work in industrial design. Among his pupils were Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

Bennewitz, Peter: see Apianus, Petrus.

Blume, Peter, 1906-92, American painter, b. Russia. Blume emigrated to the United States in 1911. In his early work, such as The Parade (1930; Mus. of Modern Art, New York City), he sought to depict through symbolism the smooth, hard contours of the industrial world. His paintings, which gained recognition in the 1930s, are precise, linear, and fantastic treatments of modern social themes, painted in microscopic detail. Major works include the powerful antifascist Eternal City (1934-37; Mus. of Modern Art) and The Rock (1945-48; Art Inst., Chicago).

Boehler, Peter, 1712-75, missionary and bishop of the Moravian Church, b. Germany. He went (1738) to Savannah, Ga., to minister to the Moravians. In 1740 he migrated with a group to Pennsylvania and there founded Nazareth and Bethlehem. He went to England and organized a new company of emigrants, the "Sea Congregation," which settled in Bethlehem in 1742. He was superintendent (1747-53) of the Moravian Church in England and was made a bishop in 1748. Boehler returned to America and directed the founding of new Moravian settlements from 1753 to 1764.

Fraser, Peter, 1884-1950, New Zealand political leader, b. Scotland. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1910. Previously active in Labour politics in London, he was elected to Parliament in 1918, becoming Labour party leader there. As minister of education, health, and marine (1935-40), he helped draft the Social Security Act of 1938. As prime minister (1940-49) he mobilized the country for war. He helped create the United Nations (1945), advocating protection for small countries. After economic unrest led to his downfall in 1949, he led the opposition in Parliament.

Canisius, Peter: see Peter Canisius, Saint.

Veregin, Peter: see Dukhobors.

Gansevoort, Peter, 1749-1812, soldier in the American Revolution, b. Albany, N.Y. He served in the Quebec campaign and in 1777 was in command of Fort Schuyler (former Fort Stanwix). In the Saratoga campaign he gallantly defended that post against British siege under Gen. Barry St. Leger until reports that Gen. Benedict Arnold was approaching frightened the British into retreat. He again won favorable notice for his part in the campaign (1779) of Gen. John Sullivan against the Iroquois and the Loyalists in W New York.

Vischer, Peter, the elder, c.1455-1529, German sculptor, foremost of the bronze founders in Germany. Beginning as the assistant of his father, Hermann Vischer, Peter set up his own establishment at Nuremberg and in time had his five sons working with him. Italian influence is noticeable in certain works, particularly the reliquary of St. Sebald at Nuremberg, Vischer's masterpiece; its rich ornamentation combines medieval and Renaissance characteristics. Of the other tombs from his workshop, the most important are those of Archbishop Ernst (cathedral, Magdeburg) and Graf Otto IV von Henneberg (Stadtkirche, Römhild). In 1513 Vischer, at the summons of Emperor Maximilian, went to Innsbruck, where he made two statues of Theodoric and Arthur for the great tomb of the Hapsburg. Of the sons who carried on their father's work, Hermann Vischer, the younger, c.1486-1517, and Peter Vischer, the younger, 1487-1528, were the most celebrated. Both sons are said to have gone to Italy and were influenced by the art of antiquity. Hermann's monumental achievement was the tomb of Elisabeth and Hermann VIII of Henneberg (Stadtkirche, Römhild). Peter the Younger made several reliefs of Orpheus and Eurydice and other mythological figures. He also executed the tomb of Frederick the Wise (Schlosskirche, Wittenberg).

Max, Peter, 1937-, American artist, b. Berlin. Max is noted for his undulating graphic designs in bright, vibrating colors. His style has influenced much commercial art. It is reminiscent of art nouveau and comic strip art, incorporating psychedelic colors in floral and celestial motifs.

Minuit, Peter, c.1580-1638, first director-general of New Netherland, b. Wesel (then the duchy of Cleves). Sent by the Dutch West India Company to take charge of its holdings in America, Minuit purchased (1626) Manhattan from the Native Americans for trade goods costing 60 Dutch guilders and made New Amsterdam (later New York City) its center. Dismissed by the company in 1631, he later entered into negotiations with the Swedes and headed (1638) the group sent out to found New Sweden. He was lost in a hurricane in the West Indies.

MacKay, Peter, 1966-, Canadian politician, b. New Glasgow, N.S. A lawyer who briefly worked (1992-93) in Germany, MacKay returned to his native Nova Scotia in 1993 and became a crown attorney. Elected to the federal parliament as a Progressive Conservative in 1997, he became Tory House leader, a position he held until 2002, when he resigned to run for the party leadership. In 2003, the youthful MacKay was chosen to succeed Joe Clark as leader of the Progressive Conservative party, winning in part because he agreed not to seek a merger with the Canadian Alliance. A few months later, however, he led his party into a merger with the Alliance to form the Conservative party of Canada, and subsequently became the new party's deputy leader. After the party came to power in 2006, he served as foreign affairs minister (2006-7) and defense minister (2007-).

Shaffer, Peter, 1926-, English playwright, b. Liverpool, grad. Cambridge, 1950. Before turning to the stage he wrote for radio and television and was the author of several mystery novels. He has written both historical and contemporary dramas, work ranging from the tautly dramatic to the farcically comic. His first successful play, Five Finger Exercise (1958), is a study of the tensions in an upper-middle-class family. The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964), is an epic of Pizarro's destruction of the Incan civilization. Equus (1973) is a dialogue between a psychoanalyst and a deranged, horse-obsessed youth; the Tony-winning Amadeus (1979) relates the rivalry between the composers Mozart and Salieri. Shaffer's other plays include The Private Ear and The Public Eye (1962), Black Comedy (1965), Lettice and Lovage (1987), and The Gift of the Gorgon (1993). Several of his plays have been made into films.

Cartwright, Peter, 1785-1872, American Methodist preacher, b. Virginia. He was a circuit rider in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois for nearly 50 years. In 1846 he was defeated as a candidate for Congress by Abraham Lincoln. An interest in education led Cartwright to aid in founding Illinois Wesleyan Univ. and Illinois Conference Female Academy (now MacMurray College). The methods and experiences of the pioneer preacher are vividly recorded in his autobiography (1857) and other books.

Stuyvesant, Peter, c.1610-1672, Dutch director-general of New Netherland. He served as governor of Curaçao and lost a leg in an expedition against St. Martin before succeeding Willem Kieft in New Netherland. On his arrival (1647) in New Amsterdam (later New York City), he immediately informed the colonists of his autocratic intentions. He set up a board of nine men to advise him but dissolved it (1651) when they asked for redress of their grievances in a remonstrance to the Dutch government. As a result of this petition, however, Holland granted (1653) municipal government to New Amsterdam. Nevertheless, Stuyvesant continued his harsh rule and was intolerant of religious dissenters, especially Quakers. While he lost territory to Connecticut (1650), he expanded the colony by conquering New Sweden (1655). Overwhelmed by a surprise English attack, Stuyvesant surrendered New Netherland to England in 1664. He spent the rest of his life on his Manhattan farm and was buried there under his chapel, now the site of a church, St. Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie.

Weir, Peter, 1944-, Australian film director, b. Sydney. His early work helped to bring Australian film to world attention; his later films, made in Hollywood, mingle American movie technique with the style of European art films. Weir's vivid and varied work often deals with clashing cultures and ideals. His films include Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), a brooding turn-of-the-century tale involving the disappearance of Australian schoolgirls; Gallipoli (1981), a drama of idealistic young Australians fighting a bloody, pointless World War I battle; and The Year of Living Dangerously (1983), a story of love and political intrigue in Sukarno's Indonesia. Among his later films are the dramas Witness (1985) and Dead Poets Society (1989); the comedy Green Card (1990); his most commercially successful work, The Truman Show (1998), which tells of a man whose life is, without his knowing it, the subject of an avidly watched television show; and the early 19th-century swashbuckler Master and Commander (2003), based on Patrick O'Brian's novels.

Weiss, Peter, 1916-82, German-Swedish dramatist, novelist, film director, and painter. Weiss's early novels Abschied von den Eltern (1961; tr. Leavetaking, 1962) and Fluchtpunkt (1962; tr. Vanishing Point, 1967) draw upon his emigration experience. His philosophic drama on the nature of revolution, The Persecution and Assassination of Jean Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (1964; tr. 1965), effectively conveys the atmosphere of an insane asylum as a social microcosm. Both this and his play Die Ermittlung (1965; tr. The Investigation, 1966) were international successes. The Investigation uses texts from the 1964 Frankfurt war crimes trial to demonstrate that the capitalist system, responsible for Auschwitz, exists in postwar society. Later works include the documentary drama Trotzki im Exil (1970; tr. Trotsky in Exile, 1971) and The Song of the Lusitanian Bogey (tr. 1970).

O'Toole, Peter (Seamus), 1932-, British actor, b. Connemara, Ireland. A classical stage actor, he appeared (1955-58) with the Bristol Old Vic, debuted in London in 1956, and has played a variety of Shakespearean roles. Tall and handsome, he made his screen debut in The Savage Innocents (1959) and catapulted to stardom with his portrayal of T. E. Lawrence in David Lean's desert epic Lawrence of Arabia (1962). He was a major star of the 1960s and early 70s, winning praise for performances in motion pictures ranging from historical drama to high comedy. Among his outstanding films are Becket (1964), Lord Jim (1965), The Lion in Winter (1968), The Ruling Class (1972), The Stunt Man (1980), My Favorite Year (1982), and The Last Emperor (1987). Nominated for an Oscar seven times, but never a winner, O'Toole received an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2003.

Kapitza, Peter, 1894-1984, Russian physicist, educated at the polytechnic institute of Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) and at Cambridge. He developed equipment (for a laboratory at Cambridge) capable of producing very powerful magnetic fields for his experiments in low-temperature physics. In 1934, Kapitza returned to the USSR, and the equipment he designed was bought by the Soviet government. Kapitza was made director of the Institute for Physical Problems of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In 1938 he discovered the superfluidity of liquid helium. He resigned as head of the Institute for Physical Problems in 1946, but returned as director in 1955 and also became editor of the Journal of Theoretical and Experimental Physics. He was an outspoken advocate of open scientific thought in the USSR. Kapitza shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics with Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson.

Karmel, Peter, 1922-, Australian educator. Karmel was educated at the universities of Melbourne and Cambridge. He worked at the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics (1943-45) before teaching at the Univ. of Melbourne (1946-49) and then at the Univ. of Adelaide (1950-62). In 1961 he was asked to plan a new campus for what is now Flinders Univ. of South Australia; he served as its vice-chancellor from 1966 until 1971. He was later vice-chancellor of the Australian National Univ. (1982-87) and president of the Academy of Social Science in Australia (1987-90). His books include Applied Statistics for Economists (1978).

Martins, Peter, 1946-, Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. He studied at the School of the Royal Danish Ballet and performed with its company (1965-69). In 1969 he joined the New York City Ballet, where he danced in numerous ballets, including Chaconne and Vienna Waltzes, often partnering Suzanne Farrell. Martins' choreographed works include Calcium Light Night (1977), Five Easy Pieces (1980), Les Gentilhommes (1987), A Musical Offering (1991), Symphonic Dances (1994), and Distant Light (2004). In 1983 Martins retired from dancing and with Jerome Robbins became coballet master in chief of the company, a position Martins has occupied alone since the retirement of Robbins in 1989.

Peter, Saint, d. A.D. 64?, most prominent of the Twelve Apostles, listed first in the Gospels, and traditionally the first bishop of Rome. His original name was Simon, but Jesus gave him the nickname Cephas [Aramaic, = rock], which was translated into Greek as Petros [Gr. petra = rock]. Peter was a native of Bethsaida and the brother of St. Andrew; he was married. He and Andrew, both fishermen, were called by Jesus to be disciples at the same time as James and John, the sons of Zebedee (Mark 1.16-20, 29-31; 3.14-16; Luke 5.1-11; John 1.40-44). There are several feasts of St. Peter in the West: St. Peter and St. Paul, June 29; the Chair of St. Peter, Apostle, Feb. 22; and St. Peter in Chains, Aug. 1. A second feast commemorating the Chair of St. Peter (i.e., his episcopal throne) was celebrated on Jan. 18 until abolished in 1960.

In the Gospels

Peter appears throughout the Gospels as leader and spokesman of the disciples, and Jesus most often addressed him when speaking to them (Mat. 10.2; 14.28; 15.15; 17.24; 19.27; Luke 8.51; 12.41). His honored position comes out most clearly in two high points of Jesus' ministry—when Peter confessed Jesus to be the Christ and was told "Upon this rock I will build my church"; and when he, together with James and John, was chosen to see the Transfiguration (Mat. 16.13-20; 17.1-13). After the Last Supper he, again with James and John, witnessed Jesus' agony in Gethsemane. When Jesus was betrayed, Peter drew his sword to defend him, but denied him later in the same night, as Jesus had predicted he would (John 13; Mat. 26.26-46, 57-75).

After the Resurrection

After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared by the Sea of Galilee and charged Peter to "feed my sheep" (John 20.1-10; 21). The first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles describe Peter's role as leader of the Twelve in the election of a replacement for Judas and in the public declaration at Pentecost (Acts 1.15-26; 2.14-40). Much attention is given to Peter's miracles and to his defense of Christianity; his deliverance from prison by an angel is a celebrated incident (Acts 3; 4; 5.1-11, 29-32; 8.14-25; 9.32-43; 10; 11.1-18; 12.1-19). He was a leader at the council of Jerusalem that was called to discuss the integration of non-Jews into the Christian organization; his hesitation to accept them freely was rebuked by St. Paul (Acts 15; Gal. 2).

A few facts of St. Peter's life are known from 2d-century sources. He apparently left Antioch for Rome c.A.D. 55; there he died, head of the local church, a martyr under Nero. According to traditional accounts he was crucified with his head downward. From earliest times the Vatican hill has been pointed out as the place of his martyrdom. Constantine erected a church over the supposed burial place of Peter; in the 15th cent. work was begun on a new, huge St. Peter's Church, built on the same location. It is the principal shrine of Roman Catholicism. Excavation has yielded remains of human bones at the site, but they cannot be identified as those of St. Peter. There is a very ancient tradition, accepted by many scholars, that the Gospel of Mark was written with St. Peter's help and that it consists essentially of his memoirs. The epistles of Peter (see Peter, epistles) are regarded by most critics as mistakenly attributed.

Peter and the Papacy

From earliest times Christians looked for leadership to the successors of Peter as the bishop of Rome. However, whether this primacy should be one of honor only (as held by the Orthodox Eastern Church) or of actual rulership of the whole church (as claimed by Roman Catholics; see papacy) is one of the dividing questions of Christian history. The biblical passages cited to support Petrine supremacy are Mat. 16.13-20 and John 21.15-25. From the first passage comes the familiar image of the keys, which are seen to represent papal power, as well as that of St. Peter as the gatekeeper of heaven.

Peter or Peters, Hugh, 1598-1660, British Puritan clergyman, educated at Cambridge. He became a priest of the Established Church, but his Puritan doctrines forced him to leave England for Holland c.1629. In 1635 he went to the Massachusetts Bay colony, became pastor of the church at Salem, and was active in the colony's ecclesiastical and political affairs. He returned to England in 1641 as an agent for the colony; served (1642-49) in the civil war as chaplain with various Puritan forces, including Oliver Cromwell's; and was executed at the Restoration. See. R. P. Stearns, The Strenuous Puritan (1954).

Peter, two letters of the New Testament, classified among the Catholic (or General) Epistles. Each opens with a statement of authorship by the apostle St. Peter. First Peter, the longer book, is addressed from "Babylon" to the Christians of the churches of Asia Minor. The work opens with a reminder of the hope of redemption and an exhortation to holiness, then passes to duties of Christians—obedience to the state, and the obligation of slaves to their masters, wives to husbands, husbands to wives, and all to each other. This leads to consolation and encouragement under persecution. The conclusion is exhortatory. While the ascription to Peter has been often doubted by modern scholars who generally date the work to c.A.D. 100, the letter was accepted as Petrine and canonical from the earliest times. Second Peter, however, is almost universally recognized as pseudonymous, and is dated by many scholars as late as A.D. 150. It was one of the last New Testament books to be admitted to the canon. In the face of the delayed second coming of Jesus, the author exhorts the readers to godly living, warning against scoffers and false teachers and affirming that the second coming will happen. Parts of Second Peter are adapted from the letter of Jude.

Peter, Apocalypse of: see Pseudepigrapha.

(born 1697, Germany—died July 28, 1746, New York, N.Y.) German-born U.S. printer and journalist. He immigrated to New York at age 13 and was indentured to a printer before starting his own printing business (1726). In 1733 he began publishing the New York Weekly Journal. Arrested for libel in 1734 for his attacks on the policies of the colonial governor, he was acquitted on the grounds that his charges were based on fact (a key consideration in libel cases since that time). It was the first important victory for freedom of the press in Britain's North American colonies.

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(born Nov. 8, 1916, Nowawes, near Potsdam, Ger.—died May 10, 1982, Stockholm, Swed.) German playwright. After fleeing Germany in 1934, his family settled in Sweden. Weiss painted and made avant-garde films in the 1950s, then turned to fiction and drama, establishing a reputation in Germany with his novel Exile (1962). He won international acclaim for his play The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (1964; usually referred to as Marat/Sade), which addressed themes of individualism, revolution, and violence. Associated with the Theatre of Fact movement, he also wrote the documentary dramas The Investigation (1965), The Song of the Lusitanian Bogey (1967), and Discourse on Vietnam (1968).

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(born April 16, 1921, London, Eng.—died March 28, 2004, Genolier, Switz.) British actor, director, author, and playwright. He made his professional stage debut at age 17, in which he displayed his talents for vocal mimicry and age affectation, and landed his first major screen role in The Goose Steps Out (1942). His film appearances include Lola Montès (1955), Spartacus (1960, Academy Award), Topkapi (1964, Academy Award), and a recurring role as Hercule Poirot in movies based on Agatha Christie's mysteries, beginning with Death on the Nile (1978). He both starred in and directed Billy Budd (1962), among other films. Lady L (1965), with Sophia Loren and Paul Newman, was probably his best-received directorial effort. He wrote successful plays such as The Love of Four Colonels (1951) and Romanoff and Juliet (1956) and won Emmy Awards for his television performances in The Life of Samuel Johnson (1957), Barefoot in Athens (1966), and A Storm in Summer (1970). Ustinov also wrote several novels and the autobiographical works Dear Me (1977), Ustinov at Large (1993), and Ustinov Still at Large (1994). Noted for his humanitarian efforts, he served as ambassador at large for UNICEF from 1969 until his death. Ustinov was knighted in 1990.

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(born circa 1592, Scherpenzeel, Friesland, Neth.—died February 1672, near New York, N.Y.) Dutch colonial governor. In 1643 he became director of the Dutch West India Co.'s Caribbean colonies and in 1645 director general of all Dutch possessions in North America, including New Netherland and the Caribbean. He arrived in New Amsterdam (later New York City) in 1647 and soon faced the burghers' demands for self-government. He established a municipal government but continued to control it. He settled the boundary with Connecticut (1650), expelled the Swedes from New Sweden on the Delaware River, and incorporated the colony into Dutch territory (1655). Incursions from the New England colonies and a squadron sent by Charles II forced him to surrender New Netherland to the British (1664).

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(born March 21, 1925, London, Eng.) British director and producer. After directing plays in Stratford-upon-Avon, he became director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1947–50). He directed several innovative Shakespearean productions that aroused controversy. Appointed codirector of the Royal Shakespeare Co. in 1962, he directed critically acclaimed productions of King Lear (1962) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1970). He won international fame with his avant-garde direction of Peter Weiss's play Marat/Sade (1964). His films include Lord of the Flies (1962), King Lear (1969), and the six-hour Mahabharata (1989). In 1970 he cofounded, with Jean-Louis Barrault, the International Centre for Theatre Research.

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(born Sept. 8, 1934, Manchester, Eng.) British composer. He studied in England, Italy, and the U.S. He cofounded the contemporary ensemble The Fires of London and was its musical director (1970–87); he wrote many of his works for the group. In 1970 he moved to Scotland's remote Orkney Islands. He wrote many musical theatre works and conducted orchestras worldwide. His most famous compositions are Eight Songs for a Mad King (1969) and An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise (1985); his other works include Miss Donnithorne's Maggot (1974); the operas Taverner (1968), The Martyrdom of St. Magnus (1976), and The Lighthouse (1980); eight symphonies; and numerous concerti.

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(born Feb. 28, 1915, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.—died Oct. 2, 1987, London, Eng.) Brazilian-born British zoologist. Educated at Oxford, he began transplant research in 1949. His finding (1953) that adult animals injected with foreign cells early in life accept skin grafts from the original donor or its twin lent support to Macfarlane Burnet's hypothesis that cells learn, during and just after birth, to distinguish “own” from “foreign.” He found that nonidentical cattle twins accept skin grafts from each other, proving that antigens “leak” between the embryos' yolk sacs, and showed with mice that each cell contains genetic antigens important to immunity. His work deflected immunology from dealing with the fully developed immunity mechanism to attempting to alter the mechanism itself (e.g., suppression of transplant rejection). He and Burnet shared a 1960 Nobel Prize.

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(born April 16, 1921, London, Eng.—died March 28, 2004, Genolier, Switz.) British actor, director, author, and playwright. He made his professional stage debut at age 17, in which he displayed his talents for vocal mimicry and age affectation, and landed his first major screen role in The Goose Steps Out (1942). His film appearances include Lola Montès (1955), Spartacus (1960, Academy Award), Topkapi (1964, Academy Award), and a recurring role as Hercule Poirot in movies based on Agatha Christie's mysteries, beginning with Death on the Nile (1978). He both starred in and directed Billy Budd (1962), among other films. Lady L (1965), with Sophia Loren and Paul Newman, was probably his best-received directorial effort. He wrote successful plays such as The Love of Four Colonels (1951) and Romanoff and Juliet (1956) and won Emmy Awards for his television performances in The Life of Samuel Johnson (1957), Barefoot in Athens (1966), and A Storm in Summer (1970). Ustinov also wrote several novels and the autobiographical works Dear Me (1977), Ustinov at Large (1993), and Ustinov Still at Large (1994). Noted for his humanitarian efforts, he served as ambassador at large for UNICEF from 1969 until his death. Ustinov was knighted in 1990.

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(born May 15, 1926, London, Eng.) British playwright. He first won notice for his comedy Five Finger Exercise (1958) and his epic tragedy The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964). His Equus (1973, Tony Award; film, 1977) was a hit in London and New York City. He was also acclaimed for Amadeus (1979), which treated Antonio Salieri's one-sided rivalry with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Shaffer adapted the play for film (1984, Academy Award). His later plays include Lettice and Lovage (1988).

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(born Jan. 31, 1797, Himmelpfortgrund, near Vienna—died Nov. 19, 1828, Vienna) Austrian composer. He learned violin from his schoolteacher father and piano from his brother. He joined the precursor of the Vienna Boys Choir (1808), making such quick progress that Antonio Salieri undertook to guide his training (1810–16). At his family's insistence, he was trained as a schoolteacher. In 1815 he wrote 2 symphonies, more than 100 songs, and 4 stage works. In 1818, seeking independence, he quit teaching at his father's school to tutor Johann Esterházy's daughters. In 1819–20 he wrote the celebrated Trout Quintet and a mass. In 1821, 20 of his most popular songs were published with great success, and he wrote the three-act opera Alfonso und Estrella. Despite his first awareness of the disease (possibly syphilis) that would kill him, his amazing production continued in 1822, with the Unfinished Symphony and the Wanderer Fantasy. He was often ill during his last five years but continued his production of music, including the song cycles The Miller's Beautiful Daughter and Winter Journey, the last three piano sonatas, and the Great Symphony. His last years were made miserable by illness, not poverty; in fact, his greatness was widely recognized. He died at 31, having produced more masterpieces by that age than almost any other composer in history. His 600 songs made the lied a serious genre and sparked its great development in subsequent decades.

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orig. Simon

(died circa AD 64, Rome) Disciple of Jesus, recognized as the leader of the Twelve Apostles. Jesus called him Cephas (Aramaic for “Rock”; rendered in Greek as “Petros”) and said “Upon this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). When Jesus was arrested, according to the biblical account, Peter denied him three times, as Jesus had foretold. Accounts of Peter's life and ministry rely on the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the epistles of Peter, and the epistles of St. Paul. Peter worked with Paul in Antioch and later carried on missionary work in Asia Minor. According to tradition, he eventually went to Rome, where he suffered martyrdom by being crucified upside down. Saint Peter's Basilica is said to have been built on the site of his grave in Rome. In Roman Catholicism he is regarded as the first in the unbroken succession of popes. Jesus' promise to give him the “keys of the kingdom” led to the popular perception of Peter as the gatekeeper of heaven. The Roman Catholic church celebrates five feast days in honour of Peter, and in each the name of Paul is associated.

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(born 1007, Ravenna—died Feb. 22, 1072, Faenze; feast day February 21) Italian cardinal and Doctor of the Church. He was prior of Fonte Avellana in the Apennines before being named a cardinal in 1057. A leading monastic reformer and ascetic, he played an important role in the promotion of apostolic poverty and in support of papal reformers who sought to enforce clerical celibacy and abolish simony. He defended Pope Alexander II against the antipope Honorius II and reconciled Alexander with the city of Ravenna. He was also sent as a papal legate to resolve disputes in Milan and Cluny, Burgundy, and he played a key role in the formulation of the papal election decree of 1059.

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orig. Simon

(died circa AD 64, Rome) Disciple of Jesus, recognized as the leader of the Twelve Apostles. Jesus called him Cephas (Aramaic for “Rock”; rendered in Greek as “Petros”) and said “Upon this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). When Jesus was arrested, according to the biblical account, Peter denied him three times, as Jesus had foretold. Accounts of Peter's life and ministry rely on the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the epistles of Peter, and the epistles of St. Paul. Peter worked with Paul in Antioch and later carried on missionary work in Asia Minor. According to tradition, he eventually went to Rome, where he suffered martyrdom by being crucified upside down. Saint Peter's Basilica is said to have been built on the site of his grave in Rome. In Roman Catholicism he is regarded as the first in the unbroken succession of popes. Jesus' promise to give him the “keys of the kingdom” led to the popular perception of Peter as the gatekeeper of heaven. The Roman Catholic church celebrates five feast days in honour of Peter, and in each the name of Paul is associated.

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(born June 28, 1577, Siegen, Westphalia—died May 30, 1640, Antwerp, Spanish Neth.) Flemish painter and diplomat. After apprenticeships in Antwerp, he was admitted to its painters' guild in 1598. He went to Italy in 1600 and until 1608 worked for the duke of Mantua, who in 1603 sent him to Spain to present paintings and other gifts to Philip III, the first of many diplomatic missions he would perform for various courts over three decades. The enormous fame he would achieve made him welcome at royal courts, and sovereigns often discussed affairs of state while they sat for portraits. Returning to the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium) in 1608, he was appointed court painter to the Spanish Habsburg regents, and over the next decade produced numerous altarpieces. A devout Catholic, he became the Counter-Reformation's chief artistic proponent in northern Europe. In 1620 he contracted to design 39 ceiling paintings for the Jesuit church, to be completed by assistants, including the young Anthony Van Dyck. In France he did 21 large canvases for Marie de Médicis and a tapestry cycle for Louis XIII; for Britain his Allegory of Peace and War (1629–30) commemorated the success of his own diplomatic efforts to end hostilities between Britain and Spain, and he decorated the royal Banqueting House for Charles I; in Spain he did more than 60 oil sketches for Philip IV's hunting lodge. Both Charles and Philip knighted him. His output was prodigious. He was the greatest exponent of Baroque painting's dynamism, vitality, and sensual exuberance. His profound stylistic influence extended over three centuries.

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(born Jan. 18, 1779, London, Eng.—died Sept. 12, 1869, West Malvern, Worcestershire) English physician and philologist. In 1814 he invented a slide rule for calculating the roots and powers of numbers. He was instrumental in founding the University of London (1828). He is best known for his Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (1852), a comprehensive classification of synonyms or verbal equivalents which he assembled during his retirement. He was a fellow (from 1815) and secretary (from 1827) of the Royal Society.

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(born circa 1050, probably Amiens—died July 8, 1115, Huy, Flanders) French ascetic and one of the most important preachers of the First Crusade. A charismatic ascetic, he preached widely in Europe in support of the First Crusade and led his enthusiastic followers to Constantinople in 1096. They advanced to Nicomedia, but Peter was unable to maintain discipline; he returned to Constantinople to ask for help from Alexius I, and in his absence his army was annihilated by the Turks. Peter reached Jerusalem in 1099 and afterwards returned to France, where he became prior of an Augustinian monastery.

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Russian Pyotr Alekseyevich known as Peter the Great

(born June 9, 1672, Moscow, Russia—died Feb. 8, 1725, St. Petersburg) Tsar of Russia (1682–1725). Son of Tsar Alexis, he reigned jointly with his half brother Ivan V (1682–96) and alone from 1696. Interested in progressive influences from western Europe, he visited several countries there (1697–98). After returning to Russia, he introduced Western technology, modernized the government and military system, and transferred the capital to the new city of St. Petersburg (1703). He further increased the power of the monarchy at the expense of the nobles and the Orthodox church. Some of his reforms were implemented brutally, with considerable loss of life. Suspecting that his son Alexis was conspiring against him, he had Alexis tortured to death in 1718. He pursued foreign policies to give Russia access to the Baltic and Black seas, engaging in war with the Ottoman Empire (1695–96) and with Sweden in the Second Northern War (1700–21). His campaign against Persia (1722–23) secured for Russia the southern and western shores of the Caspian Sea. In 1721 he was proclaimed emperor; his wife succeeded him as the empress Catherine I. For raising Russia to a recognized place among the great European powers, Peter is widely considered one of the outstanding rulers and reformers in Russian history, but he has also been decried by nationalists for discarding much of what was unique in Russian culture, and his legacy has been seen as a model for Joseph Stalin's brutal transformation of Russian life.

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Spanish Pedro known as Peter the Ceremonious

(born Sept. 5, 1319, or Sept. 15, 1317, Balaguer, Catalonia—died Jan. 5, 1387, Barcelona) King of Aragon (1336–87). He took the Balearic Islands and Roussillon from Majorca (1343–44), defeated the Aragonese nobles (1348), and became duke of Athens and Neopatras (1380). He waged war against Castile (1356–66) but failed to gain any territory; after 1369 France favoured Castile over Aragon. Peter tried to maintain neutrality in the Hundred Years' War, and he quarreled with his heir, the future John I, who became the tool of French intrigues.

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(born Nov. 8, 1916, Nowawes, near Potsdam, Ger.—died May 10, 1982, Stockholm, Swed.) German playwright. After fleeing Germany in 1934, his family settled in Sweden. Weiss painted and made avant-garde films in the 1950s, then turned to fiction and drama, establishing a reputation in Germany with his novel Exile (1962). He won international acclaim for his play The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (1964; usually referred to as Marat/Sade), which addressed themes of individualism, revolution, and violence. Associated with the Theatre of Fact movement, he also wrote the documentary dramas The Investigation (1965), The Song of the Lusitanian Bogey (1967), and Discourse on Vietnam (1968).

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(born circa 1592, Scherpenzeel, Friesland, Neth.—died February 1672, near New York, N.Y.) Dutch colonial governor. In 1643 he became director of the Dutch West India Co.'s Caribbean colonies and in 1645 director general of all Dutch possessions in North America, including New Netherland and the Caribbean. He arrived in New Amsterdam (later New York City) in 1647 and soon faced the burghers' demands for self-government. He established a municipal government but continued to control it. He settled the boundary with Connecticut (1650), expelled the Swedes from New Sweden on the Delaware River, and incorporated the colony into Dutch territory (1655). Incursions from the New England colonies and a squadron sent by Charles II forced him to surrender New Netherland to the British (1664).

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(born May 3, 1919, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. folk singer and songwriter. He was the son of the pioneering ethnomusicologist Charles Seeger (1886–1979) and stepson of the composer Ruth Crawford Seeger. Leaving Harvard after two years in 1938, he hitchhiked and rode freight trains around the country, gathering folk songs and developing a virtuosity on the banjo. In 1940 he organized the Almanac Singers with Woody Guthrie and performed widely at union halls and farm meetings. In 1948, with Lee Hays (1926–95), Ronnie Gilbert (b. 1927?), and Fred Hellerman (b. 1927), he formed the Weavers. Shortly after the group became successful, it was blacklisted because of Seeger's previous activities in left-wing and labour politics. He fostered the growth of the hootenanny (a gathering of performers playing and singing for each other, with audience participation), and he wrote folk standards such as “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” and “If I Had a Hammer.” He is also known as a prominent supporter of antiwar, civil rights, and environmental causes.

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(born Aug. 2, 1932, Connemara, County Galway, Ire.) Irish actor. He studied drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his London debut in 1956 and played Hamlet in the National Theatre's inaugural production in 1963. His film debut came in Kidnapped (1960), and he won international acclaim for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), for which he won a British Academy Award. Noted for his wit and intensity, he often played uncertain heroes or eccentrics, starring in films such as Becket (1964), The Lion in Winter (1968), The Ruling Class (1972), The Stunt Man (1980), My Favorite Year (1982), The Last Emperor (1987), and Phantoms (1998). His acting range extends from classical drama to contemporary farce. He received an Emmy Award for his performance as Bishop Cauchon in the television miniseries Joan of Arc (1999).

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(born May 7, 1943, Bacchus Marsh, Vic., Austl.) Australian writer. He worked as an advertising copywriter and at other odd jobs until 1988, when he became a full-time writer. His short-story collection The Fat Man in History (1974) contains macabre elements. His novels, more realistic but laced with black humour, include Bliss (1981), Illywhacker (1985), Oscar and Lucinda (1988, Booker Prize), The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994), Jack Maggs (1997), and True History of the Kelly Gang (2000; Booker Prize, 2001).

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(born June 28, 1577, Siegen, Westphalia—died May 30, 1640, Antwerp, Spanish Neth.) Flemish painter and diplomat. After apprenticeships in Antwerp, he was admitted to its painters' guild in 1598. He went to Italy in 1600 and until 1608 worked for the duke of Mantua, who in 1603 sent him to Spain to present paintings and other gifts to Philip III, the first of many diplomatic missions he would perform for various courts over three decades. The enormous fame he would achieve made him welcome at royal courts, and sovereigns often discussed affairs of state while they sat for portraits. Returning to the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium) in 1608, he was appointed court painter to the Spanish Habsburg regents, and over the next decade produced numerous altarpieces. A devout Catholic, he became the Counter-Reformation's chief artistic proponent in northern Europe. In 1620 he contracted to design 39 ceiling paintings for the Jesuit church, to be completed by assistants, including the young Anthony Van Dyck. In France he did 21 large canvases for Marie de Médicis and a tapestry cycle for Louis XIII; for Britain his Allegory of Peace and War (1629–30) commemorated the success of his own diplomatic efforts to end hostilities between Britain and Spain, and he decorated the royal Banqueting House for Charles I; in Spain he did more than 60 oil sketches for Philip IV's hunting lodge. Both Charles and Philip knighted him. His output was prodigious. He was the greatest exponent of Baroque painting's dynamism, vitality, and sensual exuberance. His profound stylistic influence extended over three centuries.

Learn more about Rubens, Peter Paul with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Aug. 2, 1932, Connemara, County Galway, Ire.) Irish actor. He studied drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his London debut in 1956 and played Hamlet in the National Theatre's inaugural production in 1963. His film debut came in Kidnapped (1960), and he won international acclaim for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), for which he won a British Academy Award. Noted for his wit and intensity, he often played uncertain heroes or eccentrics, starring in films such as Becket (1964), The Lion in Winter (1968), The Ruling Class (1972), The Stunt Man (1980), My Favorite Year (1982), The Last Emperor (1987), and Phantoms (1998). His acting range extends from classical drama to contemporary farce. He received an Emmy Award for his performance as Bishop Cauchon in the television miniseries Joan of Arc (1999).

Learn more about O'Toole, Peter (Seamus) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born circa 1589, Wesel, Kleve—died June 1638, Caribbean Sea) Dutch colonial governor of New Netherland. In 1626 the Dutch West India Co. named him director general of the colony on Manhattan Island. According to legend, to legitimize Dutch occupation of the island he persuaded the Indians to sell it for a handful of trinkets worth about 60 guilders ($24). At the island's southern tip he founded New Amsterdam. He was recalled to Holland (1631) and later was sent to establish the colony of New Sweden on Delaware Bay, where he again purchased land from the Indians and built Fort Christina (later Wilmington, Del.) in 1638.

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(born Oct. 27, 1946, Copenhagen, Den.) Danish-born U.S. dancer, choreographer, and director of the New York City Ballet. He trained at the Royal Danish Ballet School and became a member of its company in 1965. He joined the New York City Ballet in 1969 as a principal dancer and created roles in ballets such as Jerome Robbins's Goldberg Variations (1971) and George Balanchine's Duo Concertante (1972). He began choreographing for the company in 1977 with Calcium Light Night. After Balanchine's death in 1983, Martins became codirector (until 1990) and then sole director of the company.

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(born Jan. 18, 1779, London, Eng.—died Sept. 12, 1869, West Malvern, Worcestershire) English physician and philologist. In 1814 he invented a slide rule for calculating the roots and powers of numbers. He was instrumental in founding the University of London (1828). He is best known for his Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (1852), a comprehensive classification of synonyms or verbal equivalents which he assembled during his retirement. He was a fellow (from 1815) and secretary (from 1827) of the Royal Society.

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(born circa 1100, Novara, Lombardy—died Aug. 21/22, 1160, Paris) French bishop and theologian. He studied in Bologna and taught theology in the school of Notre-Dame, Paris. He was consecrated bishop of Paris in 1159. His Four Books of Sentences (1148–51), a systematic collection of teachings of the Church Fathers and opinions of medieval theologians, served as the standard theological text of the Middle Ages. In it Peter touched on every doctrinal issue, from God and the Trinity to the four “last things” (death, judgment, hell, and heaven). He asserted that sacraments are the cause and not merely the signal of grace and that human actions may be judged good or bad according to their cause and intention.

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(born May 15, 1926, London, Eng.) British playwright. He first won notice for his comedy Five Finger Exercise (1958) and his epic tragedy The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964). His Equus (1973, Tony Award; film, 1977) was a hit in London and New York City. He was also acclaimed for Amadeus (1979), which treated Antonio Salieri's one-sided rivalry with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Shaffer adapted the play for film (1984, Academy Award). His later plays include Lettice and Lovage (1988).

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Russian Pyotr Fyodorovich orig. Karl Peter Ulrich, duke von Holstein-Gottorp

(born Feb. 21, 1728, Kiel, Holstein-Gottorp—died July 18, 1762, Ropsha, near St. Petersburg, Russia) Tsar of Russia (1762). Grandson of Peter I, the young duke was brought to Russia by his aunt Elizabeth when she became empress (1741). Proclaimed the heir to the Russian throne, he was unpopular at court for his pro-Prussian attitude. After he succeeded Elizabeth (1762), he reversed her foreign policy, making peace with Prussia and withdrawing from the Seven Years' War. He offended the Orthodox church by trying to force it to adopt Lutheran practices. After six months he was forced to abdicate by a group of nobles, in collusion with his own wife, Catherine (later Catherine II), and Count Grigory Orlov, and was murdered while in the conspirators' custody.

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(born Sept. 6, 1923, Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes—died Nov. 3, 1970, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.) Last king of Yugoslavia. The son of Alexander I, he became titular king on his father's assassination (1934), but he ruled under the regency of his uncle Prince Paul (1893–1976). After a coup deposed Paul (1941), Peter ruled for several weeks until the German invasion forced him to flee to London. He led a government-in-exile until the Yugoslav monarchy was abolished in 1945. He moved to the U.S., where he worked in public relations.

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(born Dec. 6, 1942, Griffen, Austria) Austrian writer. He studied law before beginning to write seriously. He earned an early reputation as a member of the avant-garde with plays such as Offending the Audience (1966), in which actors analyze the nature of theatre and alternately insult the audience and praise its “performance,” and Kaspar (1968). His novels, mostly ultraobjective, deadpan accounts of characters in extreme states of mind, include The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1970) and The Left-Handed Woman (1976). A dominant theme of his works is the deadening effects and underlying irrationality of ordinary language, everyday reality, and rational order.

Learn more about Handke, Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born April 14, 1941, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) U.S. baseball player. Rose began playing organized baseball at age eight. He played for the Cincinnati Reds (1963–78, 1984–86), the Philadelphia Phillies (1979–83), and the Montreal Expos (1984). His 4,256 career hits and 3,562 games played both remain all-time records, and his career mark for runs (2,165) is exceeded only by Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Hank Aaron. In 1989, after being investigated for allegedly betting on baseball games, including those of his own Reds, Rose was banned from the sport for life by the commissioner of baseball.

Learn more about Rose, Pete(r Edward) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born , Sept. 29, 1920, Mitcham, Surrey, Eng.—died April 10, 1992, Bodmin, Cornwall) British chemist. He discovered how the distribution of enzymes in mitochondrial membranes helps them use energy from hydrogen ions to convert ADP to ATP. He received a 1978 Nobel Prize for formulating the chemiosmotic theory, which explains how energy is generated in the mitochondria of living cells.

Learn more about Mitchell, Peter Dennis with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born 1007, Ravenna—died Feb. 22, 1072, Faenze; feast day February 21) Italian cardinal and Doctor of the Church. He was prior of Fonte Avellana in the Apennines before being named a cardinal in 1057. A leading monastic reformer and ascetic, he played an important role in the promotion of apostolic poverty and in support of papal reformers who sought to enforce clerical celibacy and abolish simony. He defended Pope Alexander II against the antipope Honorius II and reconciled Alexander with the city of Ravenna. He was also sent as a papal legate to resolve disputes in Milan and Cluny, Burgundy, and he played a key role in the formulation of the papal election decree of 1059.

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(born Feb. 12, 1791, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died April 4, 1883, New York City) U.S. inventor. Cooper became involved with the Canton Iron Works, built to supply the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co., for which he devised and built the diminutive but powerful Tom Thumb locomotive. His factory at Trenton, N.J., produced the first structural-iron beams for buildings. He supported the Atlantic-cable project of Cyrus Field (1819–92) and became president of the North American Telegraph Co. His inventions include a washing machine, a compressed-air engine for ferry boats, and a waterpower device for moving canal barges. A social idealist and reformer, he founded the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1859.

Learn more about Cooper, Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born , Dec. 2, 1906, Budapest, Hung.—died Dec. 7, 1977, Westchester county, N.Y., U.S.) Hungarian-U.S. engineer. He earned a doctorate from the University of Vienna before immigrating to the U.S. in 1933. From 1936 to 1972 he worked at the Columbia Broadcasting System Laboratories. In 1940 he demonstrated the first commercial colour-television system; based on a rotating three-colour disk, his system found wide application in closed-circuit television for industry, medical institutions, and schools because his camera was much smaller, lighter, and easier to maintain than those that eventually came to be used in commercial television. In 1948 he introduced the long-playing (LP) phonograph record, which revolutionized the recording industry. In 1950 he developed the scanning system that would allow the U.S. Lunar Orbiter spacecraft (launched in 1966) to relay photographs 238,000 mi (380,000 km) from the Moon to Earth.

Learn more about Goldmark, Peter Carl with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born May 7, 1943, Bacchus Marsh, Vic., Austl.) Australian writer. He worked as an advertising copywriter and at other odd jobs until 1988, when he became a full-time writer. His short-story collection The Fat Man in History (1974) contains macabre elements. His novels, more realistic but laced with black humour, include Bliss (1981), Illywhacker (1985), Oscar and Lucinda (1988, Booker Prize), The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994), Jack Maggs (1997), and True History of the Kelly Gang (2000; Booker Prize, 2001).

Learn more about Carey, Peter (Philip) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born March 21, 1925, London, Eng.) British director and producer. After directing plays in Stratford-upon-Avon, he became director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1947–50). He directed several innovative Shakespearean productions that aroused controversy. Appointed codirector of the Royal Shakespeare Co. in 1962, he directed critically acclaimed productions of King Lear (1962) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1970). He won international fame with his avant-garde direction of Peter Weiss's play Marat/Sade (1964). His films include Lord of the Flies (1962), King Lear (1969), and the six-hour Mahabharata (1989). In 1970 he cofounded, with Jean-Louis Barrault, the International Centre for Theatre Research.

Learn more about Brook, Sir Peter (Stephen Paul) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born April 14, 1868, Hamburg—died Feb. 27, 1940, Berlin, Ger.) German architect and designer. He became director of Düsseldorf's arts and crafts school in 1903. The large electrical company AEG hired him in 1907 as its artistic adviser, a comprehensive job that led him to design the hexagonal trademark of the AEG, its catalogs, its office stationery, products such as electric fans and street lamps, and retail shops and factories. His AEG Works turbine factory in Berlin (1909–12), with its sweeping glass curtain wall, became the most significant building in Germany at that time. He was an influential pioneer of Modernism; Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe all worked in his office.

Learn more about Behrens, Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born 1079, Le Pallet, near Nantes, Brittany—died April 21, 1142, Priory of Saint-Marcel, near Chalon-sur-Saône, Burgundy) French theologian and philosopher. The son of a knight, he abandoned his inheritance to study philosophy. He became private tutor to Héloïse, niece of a canon in Paris, circa 1114. They fell in love; Héloïse became pregnant, and they married secretly. Her uncle had Abelard castrated, after which he became a monk and Héloïse became a nun. Abelard's Theologia was condemned as heretical in 1121. He accepted election as abbot of a monastery in Brittany in 1125, but his relations with the community deteriorated and he had to flee for his life. From circa 1135 Abelard taught at Mont-Sainte-Geneviève, where he wrote Ethica, in which he analyzed the notion of sin. In 1140 he was again condemned for heresy, and he withdrew to the monastery at Cluny. His influential Sic et non, a collection of apparently contradictory writings by church fathers on various topics, was intended to bring readers to the truth by wrestling with divergent opinions. He also wrote an autobiography, Historia calamitatum, and his best-known work is the series of letters he exchanged with Héloïse after they retired to monasteries.

Learn more about Abelard, Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born , Sept. 29, 1920, Mitcham, Surrey, Eng.—died April 10, 1992, Bodmin, Cornwall) British chemist. He discovered how the distribution of enzymes in mitochondrial membranes helps them use energy from hydrogen ions to convert ADP to ATP. He received a 1978 Nobel Prize for formulating the chemiosmotic theory, which explains how energy is generated in the mitochondria of living cells.

Learn more about Mitchell, Peter Dennis with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born circa 1589, Wesel, Kleve—died June 1638, Caribbean Sea) Dutch colonial governor of New Netherland. In 1626 the Dutch West India Co. named him director general of the colony on Manhattan Island. According to legend, to legitimize Dutch occupation of the island he persuaded the Indians to sell it for a handful of trinkets worth about 60 guilders ($24). At the island's southern tip he founded New Amsterdam. He was recalled to Holland (1631) and later was sent to establish the colony of New Sweden on Delaware Bay, where he again purchased land from the Indians and built Fort Christina (later Wilmington, Del.) in 1638.

Learn more about Minuit, Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Feb. 28, 1915, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.—died Oct. 2, 1987, London, Eng.) Brazilian-born British zoologist. Educated at Oxford, he began transplant research in 1949. His finding (1953) that adult animals injected with foreign cells early in life accept skin grafts from the original donor or its twin lent support to Macfarlane Burnet's hypothesis that cells learn, during and just after birth, to distinguish “own” from “foreign.” He found that nonidentical cattle twins accept skin grafts from each other, proving that antigens “leak” between the embryos' yolk sacs, and showed with mice that each cell contains genetic antigens important to immunity. His work deflected immunology from dealing with the fully developed immunity mechanism to attempting to alter the mechanism itself (e.g., suppression of transplant rejection). He and Burnet shared a 1960 Nobel Prize.

Learn more about Medawar, Sir Peter B(rian) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Oct. 27, 1946, Copenhagen, Den.) Danish-born U.S. dancer, choreographer, and director of the New York City Ballet. He trained at the Royal Danish Ballet School and became a member of its company in 1965. He joined the New York City Ballet in 1969 as a principal dancer and created roles in ballets such as Jerome Robbins's Goldberg Variations (1971) and George Balanchine's Duo Concertante (1972). He began choreographing for the company in 1977 with Calcium Light Night. After Balanchine's death in 1983, Martins became codirector (until 1990) and then sole director of the company.

Learn more about Martins, Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born 1697, Germany—died July 28, 1746, New York, N.Y.) German-born U.S. printer and journalist. He immigrated to New York at age 13 and was indentured to a printer before starting his own printing business (1726). In 1733 he began publishing the New York Weekly Journal. Arrested for libel in 1734 for his attacks on the policies of the colonial governor, he was acquitted on the grounds that his charges were based on fact (a key consideration in libel cases since that time). It was the first important victory for freedom of the press in Britain's North American colonies.

Learn more about Zenger, John Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Dec. 30, 1847, Niederselters, Prussia—died March 12, 1902, Joliet, Ill., U.S.) German-born U.S. politician, governor of Illinois (1893–97). He emigrated from Germany as a child. In the 1870s he moved to Chicago, where he accumulated a small fortune in real estate and became active in Democratic Party politics. In 1892 he won the governorship as a reformist candidate. In 1893, at the urging of Clarence Darrow and labour leaders, he granted clemency to three men convicted of complicity in the Haymarket Riot. The controversial pardon provoked an outcry from conservatives and contributed to his defeat for reelection in 1896, though Altgeld's decision later gained wide approval in judicial circles.

Learn more about Altgeld, John Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Dec. 6, 1942, Griffen, Austria) Austrian writer. He studied law before beginning to write seriously. He earned an early reputation as a member of the avant-garde with plays such as Offending the Audience (1966), in which actors analyze the nature of theatre and alternately insult the audience and praise its “performance,” and Kaspar (1968). His novels, mostly ultraobjective, deadpan accounts of characters in extreme states of mind, include The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1970) and The Left-Handed Woman (1976). A dominant theme of his works is the deadening effects and underlying irrationality of ordinary language, everyday reality, and rational order.

Learn more about Handke, Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born , Dec. 2, 1906, Budapest, Hung.—died Dec. 7, 1977, Westchester county, N.Y., U.S.) Hungarian-U.S. engineer. He earned a doctorate from the University of Vienna before immigrating to the U.S. in 1933. From 1936 to 1972 he worked at the Columbia Broadcasting System Laboratories. In 1940 he demonstrated the first commercial colour-television system; based on a rotating three-colour disk, his system found wide application in closed-circuit television for industry, medical institutions, and schools because his camera was much smaller, lighter, and easier to maintain than those that eventually came to be used in commercial television. In 1948 he introduced the long-playing (LP) phonograph record, which revolutionized the recording industry. In 1950 he developed the scanning system that would allow the U.S. Lunar Orbiter spacecraft (launched in 1966) to relay photographs 238,000 mi (380,000 km) from the Moon to Earth.

Learn more about Goldmark, Peter Carl with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Jan. 31, 1797, Himmelpfortgrund, near Vienna—died Nov. 19, 1828, Vienna) Austrian composer. He learned violin from his schoolteacher father and piano from his brother. He joined the precursor of the Vienna Boys Choir (1808), making such quick progress that Antonio Salieri undertook to guide his training (1810–16). At his family's insistence, he was trained as a schoolteacher. In 1815 he wrote 2 symphonies, more than 100 songs, and 4 stage works. In 1818, seeking independence, he quit teaching at his father's school to tutor Johann Esterházy's daughters. In 1819–20 he wrote the celebrated Trout Quintet and a mass. In 1821, 20 of his most popular songs were published with great success, and he wrote the three-act opera Alfonso und Estrella. Despite his first awareness of the disease (possibly syphilis) that would kill him, his amazing production continued in 1822, with the Unfinished Symphony and the Wanderer Fantasy. He was often ill during his last five years but continued his production of music, including the song cycles The Miller's Beautiful Daughter and Winter Journey, the last three piano sonatas, and the Great Symphony. His last years were made miserable by illness, not poverty; in fact, his greatness was widely recognized. He died at 31, having produced more masterpieces by that age than almost any other composer in history. His 600 songs made the lied a serious genre and sparked its great development in subsequent decades.

Learn more about Schubert, Franz (Peter) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Sept. 8, 1934, Manchester, Eng.) British composer. He studied in England, Italy, and the U.S. He cofounded the contemporary ensemble The Fires of London and was its musical director (1970–87); he wrote many of his works for the group. In 1970 he moved to Scotland's remote Orkney Islands. He wrote many musical theatre works and conducted orchestras worldwide. His most famous compositions are Eight Songs for a Mad King (1969) and An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise (1985); his other works include Miss Donnithorne's Maggot (1974); the operas Taverner (1968), The Martyrdom of St. Magnus (1976), and The Lighthouse (1980); eight symphonies; and numerous concerti.

Learn more about Davies, Sir Peter Maxwell with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Feb. 12, 1791, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died April 4, 1883, New York City) U.S. inventor. Cooper became involved with the Canton Iron Works, built to supply the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co., for which he devised and built the diminutive but powerful Tom Thumb locomotive. His factory at Trenton, N.J., produced the first structural-iron beams for buildings. He supported the Atlantic-cable project of Cyrus Field (1819–92) and became president of the North American Telegraph Co. His inventions include a washing machine, a compressed-air engine for ferry boats, and a waterpower device for moving canal barges. A social idealist and reformer, he founded the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1859.

Learn more about Cooper, Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born April 14, 1868, Hamburg—died Feb. 27, 1940, Berlin, Ger.) German architect and designer. He became director of Düsseldorf's arts and crafts school in 1903. The large electrical company AEG hired him in 1907 as its artistic adviser, a comprehensive job that led him to design the hexagonal trademark of the AEG, its catalogs, its office stationery, products such as electric fans and street lamps, and retail shops and factories. His AEG Works turbine factory in Berlin (1909–12), with its sweeping glass curtain wall, became the most significant building in Germany at that time. He was an influential pioneer of Modernism; Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe all worked in his office.

Learn more about Behrens, Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born May 6, 1870, San Jose, Calif., U.S.—died June 3, 1949, San Mateo, Calif.) U.S. banker and innovator in personal banking products. The son of Italian immigrants, he left school at age 13 to work in the family wholesale produce business, becoming a partner in 1889. In 1904 he and five partners founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco. Their bank followed an unorthodox program of making loans to small farmers and businessmen and actively soliciting customers. In 1909 he began buying banks elsewhere in California, eventually creating the first statewide branch-banking system in the U.S. He established the Transamerica Corporation in 1928. After acquiring a second network of branch banks, he merged the two in 1930 under the name Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association. By the time of his death, Bank of America had more than 500 branch banks, with more than $6 billion in deposits.

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(born Dec. 30, 1847, Niederselters, Prussia—died March 12, 1902, Joliet, Ill., U.S.) German-born U.S. politician, governor of Illinois (1893–97). He emigrated from Germany as a child. In the 1870s he moved to Chicago, where he accumulated a small fortune in real estate and became active in Democratic Party politics. In 1892 he won the governorship as a reformist candidate. In 1893, at the urging of Clarence Darrow and labour leaders, he granted clemency to three men convicted of complicity in the Haymarket Riot. The controversial pardon provoked an outcry from conservatives and contributed to his defeat for reelection in 1896, though Altgeld's decision later gained wide approval in judicial circles.

Learn more about Altgeld, John Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born 1079, Le Pallet, near Nantes, Brittany—died April 21, 1142, Priory of Saint-Marcel, near Chalon-sur-Saône, Burgundy) French theologian and philosopher. The son of a knight, he abandoned his inheritance to study philosophy. He became private tutor to Héloïse, niece of a canon in Paris, circa 1114. They fell in love; Héloïse became pregnant, and they married secretly. Her uncle had Abelard castrated, after which he became a monk and Héloïse became a nun. Abelard's Theologia was condemned as heretical in 1121. He accepted election as abbot of a monastery in Brittany in 1125, but his relations with the community deteriorated and he had to flee for his life. From circa 1135 Abelard taught at Mont-Sainte-Geneviève, where he wrote Ethica, in which he analyzed the notion of sin. In 1140 he was again condemned for heresy, and he withdrew to the monastery at Cluny. His influential Sic et non, a collection of apparently contradictory writings by church fathers on various topics, was intended to bring readers to the truth by wrestling with divergent opinions. He also wrote an autobiography, Historia calamitatum, and his best-known work is the series of letters he exchanged with Héloïse after they retired to monasteries.

Learn more about Abelard, Peter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Peter, Paul and Mary (often called PP&M) are a musical group from the United States who were one of the most successful folk-singing groups of the 1960s. The trio is composed of Peter Yarrow, Noel "Paul" Stookey and Mary Travers.

History

The group was created and managed by Albert Grossman, who sought to create a folk "supergroup" by bringing together "a tall blonde (Mary Travers), a funny guy (Paul Stookey), and a good looking guy (Peter Yarrow)". He launched the group in 1961, booking them into the The Bitter End, a coffee house and popular folk venue in New York City's Greenwich Village. They recorded their first album, Peter, Paul and Mary, the following year. It included "500 Miles", "Lemon Tree", and the Pete Seeger hit tunes "If I Had a Hammer" (subtitled "(The Hammer Song)") and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?". The album was listed on the Billboard Magazine Top Ten list for ten months and in the Top One Hundred for over three years.

The group made its television debut in either 1961 or 1962 on a talk show hosted by Mike Wallace and Joyce Davidson, though neither audio or video footage has yet been found. By 1963, Peter, Paul and Mary had recorded three albums. All three were in the Top ten the week of President Kennedy's assassination.

That year the group also released "Puff the Magic Dragon", which Yarrow and fellow Cornell student Leonard Lipton had written in 1959, and performed "If I Had a Hammer" at the 1963 March on Washington, best remembered for Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. One of their biggest hit singles was the Bob Dylan song "Blowin' in the Wind. They also sang other Bob Dylan songs, such as: "The Times They Are a-Changin'"; "Don't Think Twice, it's Alright"; and "When the Ship Comes In".

"Leaving On A Jet Plane", which in December 1969 became their only #1 (as well as their final Top 40) hit, was written by John Denver (who had already had some success with The Chad Mitchell Trio) and first appeared on their Album 1700 in 1967. "Day Is Done", a #21 hit in June 1969, was the last Hot 100 hit the trio recorded.

The trio broke up in 1970 to pursue solo careers, but found little of the success they had experienced as a group, although Stookey's "The Wedding Song (There is Love)" (written for Yarrow's marriage to Marybeth McCarthy, the niece of senator Eugene McCarthy) was a hit and has become a wedding standard since its 1971 release.

In 1978, they reunited for a concert to protest nuclear energy, and have recorded albums together and toured since. They currently play around 45 shows a year.

The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.

The trio became political activists for their commitment to peace in Central America and for supporting musically and personally the peace and social justice movement in America. They were awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience on September 1, 1990.

Recent tours

In 2004, Travers was diagnosed with leukemia, leading to the cancellation of the remaining tour dates for that year. She received a bone marrow transplant and is recovering. She and the rest of the trio resumed their concert tour on December 9, 2005 with a holiday performance at Carnegie Hall.

Peter, Paul and Mary received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award from Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006.

The trio sang in Mitchell, South Dakota, for the George and Eleanor McGovern Library and Center for Leadership dedication concert on October 5, 2006.

The trio canceled several dates of their summer 2007 tour, as Mary took longer than expected to recover from back surgery and later had to undergo a second surgery, further postponing the tour. They will make up at least one of the dates, at the Northfork Theatre (formerly Westbury Music Fair) in June 2008.

Discography

• 1962: Peter, Paul and Mary
• 1963: Moving
• 1963: In the Wind
• 1964: In Concert
• 1965: A Song Will Rise
• 1965: See What Tomorrow Brings
• 1966: Album
• 1967: Album 1700
• 1967: In Japan
• 1968: Late Again
• 1969: Peter, Paul and Mommy
• 1970: The Best of Peter, Paul and Mary: Ten Years Together
• 1978: Reunion
• 1983: Such Is Love
• 1986: No Easy Walk To Freedom
• 1988: A Holiday Celebration
• 1990: Flowers & Stones
• 1993: Peter, Paul and Mommy, Too
• 1995: PPM& (Lifelines)
• 1996: Lifelines Live
• 1998: Around The Campfire
• 1998: The Collection
• 1999: Songs of Conscience and Concern
• 2000: Don't Laugh at Me
• 2004: Carry It On
• 2004: In These Times
• 2005: The Very Best of Peter, Paul & Mary

See also

• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)

Videography

• 1986: Peter, Paul & Mary 25th Anniversary Concert
• 1988: Peter, Paul & Mary Holiday Concert
• 1993: Peter, Paul & Mommy, Too
• 1996: Peter, Paul & Mary: Lifelines Live
• 2004: Peter, Paul & Mary: Carry It On — A Musical Legacy

Song sample

• of "Puff the Magic Dragon" (.ogg format)

References

External links

• Official home page
• 'Peter, Paul and Mary' Vocal Group Hall of Fame Page.
• Peter Yarrow in-depth candid video interview on The Alcove with Mark Molaro