perestroika \,per-3-'str6i-k9\ Russian "restructuring" Program instituted in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-1980s to restructure Soviet political and economic policy. Gorbachev proposed reducing the direct involvement of the Communist Party leadership in the country’s governance and increasing the local governments’ authority. Seeking to bring the Soviet Union up to economic par with capitalist countries such as Germany, Japan, and the U.S., he decentralized eco¬ nomic controls and encouraged enterprises to become self-financing. The economic bureaucracy, fearing loss of its power and privileges, obstructed much of his program.
Peretz \'per-ets\, l(saac) L(eib) or Yitskhok Leybush Perets (b.
May 18, 1852, or May 20, 1851, Zamosc, Pol., Russian Empire—d. April 3, 1915, Warsaw) Polish writer. Peretz wrote prolifically, mostly in Yid¬ dish, bringing to the language both a new expressive force and modern¬ izing influences from western European art and literature. His tales of Hasidic lore (e.g., the Silent Souls series) are elegiac meditations on tra¬ ditional values that draw material from the lives of impoverished eastern European Jews. Among his works are story collections, including Folk¬ tales (1908), the drama The Golden Chain (1909), and articles on many subjects to encourage Jews toward wider secular knowledge.
Perez (Rodriguez), Carlos (Andres) (b. Oct. 27, 1922, Rubio, Venez.) President of Venezuela (1974-79, 1989-93). He began his politi¬ cal career at age 18. A founder of Democratic Action, he was elected president in 1973 with the support of the liberal Romulo Betancourt. He nationalized the oil industry while retaining experienced foreign person¬ nel to ensure efficiency, slowed production to conserve resources, stimu¬ lated small business and agriculture, and channeled petroleum income into hydroelectric projects, education programs, and steel mills. Reelected in 1989, Perez promoted free-market economic reforms. After surviving two attempted coups, he was imprisoned in 1993 on charges of embezzlement and misuse of public funds.
Perez de Cuellar \'per-es-tha-'kwa-yar\, Javier (b. Jan. 19, 1920, Lima, Peru) Fifth secretary-general of the United Nations (1982-91). He joined the Peruvian foreign ministry in 1940 and its foreign service in 1944, serving in France, Britain, Bolivia, and Brazil. After serving as ambassador to Switzerland and as Peru’s first ambassador to the Soviet Union, he was appointed the country’s ambassador to the UN, a post he held until he was appointed secretary-general. As secretary-general he advocated the use of the United Nations Security Council for keeping the peace and as a forum for negotiation. In his second term, he negotiated the cease-fire that ended the Iran-Iraq War (1988). Perez de Cuellar later served as prime minister of Peru (2000-01).
Perez Galdos \ , pa-rath-gal-'dos\, Benito (b. May 10, 1843, Las Pal¬ mas, Canary Islands, Spain—d. Jan. 4, 1920, Madrid) Spanish novelist. In the 1870s he began a cycle of 46 short historical novels, Episodios nacionales (1873-1912), that earned him comparison with Honore de Balzac and Charles Dickens. Some of his finest works chronicle contem¬ porary Spain, including The Disinherited Lady (1881) and his master¬ piece, Fortunata y Jacinta (1886-87), a study of two unhappily married women. His earlier works show a reforming zeal and anticlericalism, but after the 1880s he displayed greater sympathy for Spain and its idiosyn¬ crasies, as in Nazarin (1895), Compassion (1897), and a series featuring the character Torquemada. He also wrote plays, some very popular but of less artistic value. He was regarded as Spain’s greatest novelist since Miguel de Cervantes.
Perez Jimenez Vper-ez-he-'men-ezX, Marcos (b. April 25, 1914, Michelena, Venez.—d. Sept. 20, 2001, Madrid, Spain) Soldier and presi¬ dent of Venezuela (1953-58). He graduated from the Venezuelan Military Academy and in 1945 and 1948 participated in coups d’etat. Appointed to the presidency by the military and elected in 1953 by the constituent assembly, which he controlled, he embarked on a program of vast public works. He and his associates received commissions on every project. His regime was marked by extravagance, corruption, police oppression, unemployment, and high inflation. He was forced out of office in 1958 and later jailed for embezzling government funds. His repeated attempts to reenter political life were thwarted.
perfect gas or ideal gas Gas whose physical behaviour conforms to the general gas law, which states that for a given quantity of gas, the product of the volume V and pressure P is proportional to the absolute temperature T, or PV = kT, where k is a constant. A perfect gas is assumed to consist of a large number of molecules in random motion, which obey Newton's laws of motion. Their volume is assumed to be negligibly small, and no forces are presumed to act on the molecules except during momen¬ tary collisions. Though no gas has these properties, real gases at suffi¬ ciently high temperatures and low pressures can be described this way.
performance art Art form that arose in Europe and the U.S. in the 1960s. The term describes an art that is live but operates outside the tra¬ ditional conventions of theatre or music. Early examples represented a challenge to orthodox art forms and cultural norms by creating an ephem¬ eral art experience that could not be captured or purchased. By the 1970s performance art was used as a general term to describe a multitude of
Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus).
KENNETH W. FINK-ROOT RESOURCES
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
perfume ► periodic table I 1473
activities, including happenings, body art, actions, events, and non-matrix theatre. Prominent performance artists have included Joseph Beuys, John Cage, Dennis Oppenheim, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Meredith Monk, and Laurie Anderson.
perfume Fluid preparation used for scenting, composed of natural essences or synthetics and a fixative. Perfumes are concocted by the art¬ ful blending of certain fragrant substances in appropriate proportions. The art of perfumery was apparently known to the ancient Chinese, Hindus, Egyptians, Israelites, Carthaginians, Arabs, Greeks, and Romans; refer¬ ences to perfumes are found in the Bible. Raw materials used in perfum¬ ery include natural products, of plant or animal origin, and synthetic materials. Fine perfumes may be blends of more than 100 ingredients.
perfume bottle Vessel made to hold scent. The earliest example is Egyptian and dates to c. 1000 bc. The fashion for perfume later spread to Greece, where terra-cotta and glass containers were made in a variety of shapes such as animals and human heads. Romans made perfume bottles out of molded and blown glass. The spread of Christianity marked a decline in perfume production, as well as of glassmaking. The revival of perfume making in France in the 12th century and the popularity of Vene¬ tian gass in the 13th century revived the production of perfume bottles.
Pergamum Vpor-go-momX Greek Pergamon Vpsr-gs-mosV Ancient Greek city, western Anatolia, near the modern town of Bergama, Turkey. It existed from at least the 5th century bc but became important in the Helle¬ nistic period when it was the residence of the Attalid dynasty and reached its height (263-133 bc). Then it was bequeathed to Rome. After the fall of Rome, it was ruled by the Byzantine Empire until it passed into Ottoman hands in the early 14th century ad. It is one of the most outstanding examples of city planning in antiquity, and its library was excelled only by that at Alexandria, Egypt. Excavations begun in 1878 by the German archaeologists unearthed many artistic treasures, including the great altar of Zeus, which are now housed in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum.
pergola Vpsr-gs-lsN Garden walk or terrace typically formed by two rows of columns or posts roofed with an open framework of beams and cross rafters over which plants are trained. Its purpose is to provide a foun¬ dation on which climbing plants can be viewed and to give shade. Known in ancient Egypt, pergolas were a common feature of early Renaissance gardens in Italy and subsequently throughout Europe. They had a marked revival during the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain. See also arbor.