Perpignan \,per-pe-'nya n \ City (pop., 1999: 105,115), southern France. Located just north of the Spanish border, Perpignan was founded c. 10th
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1476 I Perrault ► Pershing
century. It was the capital of Roussillon in the 12th century and of the kingdom of Majorca from 1276 to 1344. The city was heavily fortified during the struggle between France and Spain for the area; it became French in 1659. It is now a market centre for the surrounding agricultural area; its many medieval buildings have made tourism economically important.
Perrault \pe-'ro\, Charles (b. Jan. 12, 1628, Paris, France—d. May 15/16, 1703, Paris) French poet, prose writer, and storyteller. Perrault began to win a literary reputation c. 1660 with light verse and love poetry. He is best remembered for his collection of charming fairy stories writ¬ ten to amuse his children, Contes de ma mere I’oye, or Tales of Mother Goose (1697; see Mother Goose). He spent the rest of his life promoting the study of literature and the arts. A leading member of the Academie Francaise, he was involved in a famous controversy with Nicholas Boileau on the relative merits of ancient and modem literature; his support for the modern was of landmark significance in the revolt against the constraints of prevailing tradition.
Perrot\pe-'ro\ / Jules (-Joseph) (b. Aug. 18, 1810, Lyon, Fr.—d. Aug. 24, 1892, Parame) French dancer and choreographer. After studying with Auguste Vestris, he debuted at the Paris Opera in 1830. He often partnered Marie Taglioni until 1835, when he left the company to tour in Europe. He choreographed several ballets for Carlotta Grisi, probably including the famous solos in Giselle. As dancer and ballet master in London (1842-48) and St. Peters¬ burg (1848-58), he choreographed many important Romantic ballets with an expressive, dramatic style. In his later years he gave classes at the Paris Opera.
Perry, Matthew C(albraith)
(b. April 10, 1794, South Kingston,
R.I., U.S.—d. March 4, 1858, New York, N.Y.) U.S. naval officer. He followed his brother Oliver Perry into the navy and commanded the first U.S. navy steamship, the Fulton (1837-40). He led naval forces in the Mexican War and assisted Winfield Scon at Veracruz. In 1852 Pres. Mill¬ ard Fillmore sent Perry to head a naval expedition to induce Japan to establish diplomatic relations with the U.S. Concluding that the coun¬ try’s centuries-old policy of isolation would be ended only by a show of force, Perry led four ships into the fortified harbour of Uraga (1853) and convinced the Japanese to accept his message. In 1854 he entered Edo (now Tokyo) Bay with nine ships and concluded the first treaty between Japan and the U.S., which granted the U.S. trading privileges and opened the Far East to U.S. influence.
Jules Perrot, engraving after a draw¬ ing.
Perry, Oliver Hazard (b. Aug. 20, 1785, South Kingston, R.I., U.S.—d. Aug. 23, 1819, at sea) U.S. naval officer. The older brother of Matthew Perry, he entered the navy in 1799 and served in the West Indies and the Mediterranean. In 1813 he was ordered to Erie, Pa., to assemble a naval squadron to challenge British control of the Great Lakes in the War of 1812. With 10 small ships, he engaged six British warships in Lake Erie (Sept. 10, 1813). After his flagship was disabled, he was rowed to the Niagara , from which he won the battle by sailing directly into the British line, firing broadside. In reporting the British surrender he wrote, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”
Perse, Saint-John See Saint-John Perse
Persephone \p3r-'se-fo-ne\ Latin Proserpina In Greek mythology, daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She was gathering flowers when she was seized by Hades, who carried her off to the underworld to make her his wife. On learning of the abduction, Demeter was so distraught that she allowed barrenness and famine to spread over the earth. Zeus commanded Hades to allow Persephone to return to her mother, but because she had
eaten some (or, in some versions, just one) pomegranate seeds in the under¬ world, she had to remain one-third of the year with Hades, spending the other two-thirds with Demeter. This myth accounts for the change of the seasons and the annual cycle of growth and decay.
Persepolis Xpor-'se-po-losN Ancient Persian city, northeast of modern Shiraz, Iran. It was built in a remote and mountainous area during the reign of Darius I, who made it the capital of Persia, replacing Pasar- gadae. In 330 bc Alexander the Great plundered the city and burned the palace of Xerxes I. The city’s ruins cover an extensive area and com¬ prise a number of colossal buildings, including palaces of early Persian kings, a great staircase, an audience hall, and a treasury.
Perseus (b. c. 212—d. c. 165 bc.
Alba Fucens, near Rome) Last king of Macedonia (r. 179-168). Son of Philip V, he fought against Rome (199) and Aetolia (189). He per¬ suaded the king to execute his brother Demetrius. As king he extended his influence in neighbour¬ ing states and tried to gain the trust of the Greek world, but he alarmed Greece by visiting Delphi with an army. Eumenes II of Pergamum informed Rome of Perseus’s allegedly aggressive designs, provoking the Third Macedonian War (171-168). The struggle ended in a final defeat of the Macedonians by the Romans, ending the monarchy, and Perseus spent the rest of his life in captivity.
Perseus In Greek mythology, the slayer of the Gorgon Medusa. He was the son of Zeus and Danae. His grandfather had him thrown into the sea in a chest with his mother as an infant because of a prophecy that Per¬ seus would kill him. Perseus and his mother survived, and as a young man Perseus set out to gain the head of Medusa. On his way home he rescued the Ethiopian princess Andromeda from a sea monster, and she became his wife. When he took his mother back to her native Argos, he threw a discus that accidentally killed his grandfather, thus fulfilling the prophecy.
Pershing X'par-zhiq, 'psr-shiqV, John J(oseph) (b. Sept. 13, 1860, Laclede, Mo., U.S.—d. July 15,
1948, Washington, D.C.) U.S. army officer. He graduated from West Point and served on the western fron¬ tier (1886-98), in the Spanish- American War, in the Philippines (1899-1903, 1906-13), and as com¬ mander of a punitive raid against Pancho Villa (1916). During World War I he was appointed commander in chief of the American Expedition¬ ary Force (AEF). He maintained the AEF as an independent army of two million men and resisted Allied efforts to use U.S. forces as replace¬ ment units for French and British troops. He led the successful assault of the St. Mihiel salient in Septem¬ ber 1918 and helped defeat German forces in the Meuse-Argonne offen¬ sive. He was promoted to general of the armies in 1919 and was army chief of staff from 1921 to 1924. His nickname, “Black Jack,” derived from his service with an African Ameri¬ can regiment early in his career (see buffalo soldier). His memoirs. My Experiences in the World War (1931), won a Pulitzer Prize.
John J. Pershing, 1917.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Persephone abducted by Hades, marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Ber¬ nini, 1621-22; in the Borghese Gal¬ lery, Rome
ANDERSON—AUNARI FROM ART RESOURCE/EB INC.
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