Peacock, Andrew (Sharp) (b. Feb. 13, 1939, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), Australian politician. He was elected to Parliament for the Melbourne establishment seat of Kooyong in 1966 as the replacement to no less a statesman than Sir Robert Menzies on Menzies's retirement after 17 years as prime minister, and Peacock was clearly seen as a potential prime minister as early as the mid-1960s. His most important early post, which launched his political career at centre stage, was as minister for the Army (1969-72). During the Vietnam war he performed so well as a minister that he was rewarded with the plum post of foreign minister (1975-80) in the government of Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. He also held various other portfolios, including minister advising the prime minister (1969-71), assistant to the treasurer (1971-72), external territories (1972), environment (two months in 1975), industrial relations (1980-81), and industry and commerce (1982-83). He came into direct opposition to Prime Minister Fraser, and in 1981 he began his long-awaited attempt to unseat Fraser from the leadership of the Liberal Party. Fraser resigned after losing the 1983 elections to Labor, and the Liberals elected Peacock leader. The leadership changed hands again in 1985 when John Howard was elected to replace him by a convincing majority. On May 9, 1989, Peacock's parliamentary colleagues gave him a last chance to lead the conservative parties to victory in an election. They dumped Howard and replaced him with Peacock, who, they hoped, would have a higher level of personal popularity than his predecessor. While Peacock supporters spoke of a phoenix rising from the ashes, Prime Minister Robert Hawke called him a "recycled dunderhead." After Labour won the 1990 election, Peacock was replaced by John Hewson.
Pearce, Howard (John Stredder) (b. April 13, 1949, Twickenham, England), governor of the Falkland Islands (2002-06).
Pearey, David (Dacre) (b. July 15, 1948), governor of the British Virgin Islands (2006-10). Earlier he was British high commissioner to Malawi (2004-06).
Pearkes, George R(andolph) (b. Feb. 26, 1888, Watford, England - d. May 30, 1984, Victoria, B.C.), Canadian politician. He went to Canada in 1906 and after serving with the Royal Northwest mounted police in the Yukon, enlisted as a private in the Canadian army in March 1915. He was wounded in action in France and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry at Passchendaele, Belgium, in 1917. After World War I, Pearkes remained in the army's permanent force. In World War II he was promoted to major general and served as commander of the 1st Canadian division and general officer commanding, Pacific command. He was elected to the House of Commons in the June 1945 election for the constituency of Nanaimo, B.C. He was reelected in 1949 for Nanaimo and in 1953, 1957, and 1958 for the constituency of Esquimalt-Saanich. He was appointed minister of national defense in the federal cabinet on June 21, 1957. He attended the Commonwealth prime ministers' conference in London, England, in 1957 and two meetings of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He welcomed Princess Margaret to Canada on July 28, 1958, on behalf of the Canadian government. In 1960-68 he was lieutenant governor of British Columbia.
Pearse, Patrick Henry, Irish Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais (b. Nov. 10, 1879, Dublin, Ireland - d. May 3, 1916, Dublin), Irish leader. He joined the Gaelic League (founded in 1893 for the preservation of the Irish language), became an energetic member of its executive, and was editor (1903-09) of its weekly newspaper, An Claidheamh Soluis ("The Sword of Light"). To promote the language as a weapon against British domination, he published tales from old Irish manuscripts and a collection (1914) of his own poems in the modern Irish idiom. In 1908 he founded St. Enda's College (near Dublin), a bilingual school with its teaching based on Irish traditions and culture. When the Irish Volunteers were formed in November 1913, as a counterforce against the Ulster Volunteers (militant supporters of the union with Britain), he became a member of their provisional committee. After the movement split in September 1914, he became director of organization of the more extreme Nationalist section, which opposed any support for Britain in World War I. Convinced that Ireland might be freed only by the blood of martyrs, he delivered a famous oration on this theme in August 1915, at the burial of Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, a veteran Fenian. As a member of the supreme council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (from July 1914), he was instrumental in planning (January 1916) the Easter Rising. On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, he proclaimed the provisional government (of which he had been chosen president) of the Irish Republic from the steps of the General Post Office in Dublin. The revolt was crushed; he surrendered on April 29 and, after a court-martial, was executed by a firing squad at Kilmainham Prison. He was responsible more than anyone else for establishing the republican tradition in Ireland.
Pearson, Sir Francis Fenwick, (1st) Baronet, byname Sir Frank Pearson (b. June 13, 1911 - d. Feb. 17, 1991), chief minister of Manipur (1947). He was Conservative MP for Clitheroe (1959-70) and was created a baronet in 1964.
Pearson, Frederick (b. Aug. 22, 1842, Pennsylvania - d. Dec. 23, 1890, New York City), naval commander in charge of Alaska (1881-82).
Pearson, Lester B(owles) (b. April 23, 1897, Toronto, Ont. - d. Dec. 27, 1972, Ottawa, Ont.), prime minister of Canada (1963-68). He joined the diplomatic service in 1928 and became first secretary in the Department of External Affairs. He served on two royal commissions in 1931 and in 1935 became counselor of the Canadian high commissioner's office in London. Recalled to Canada in 1941 to become assistant undersecretary of state for external affairs, he was posted to Washington, D.C., in 1942 as minister-counsellor at the Canadian legation, and in January 1945 he was appointed ambassador to the United States. A year later he was recalled to Ottawa to become undersecretary of state for external affairs. He headed the Canadian delegation at the United Nations (1948-56) and was president of the UN General Assembly (1952-53). In 1948 he became secretary of state for external affairs in the Liberal government of Louis Saint Laurent, entering parliament for Algoma East, Ont., through a January 1949 by-election. In the latter year he represented Canada at the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In 1957 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to defusing the Suez crisis of 1956. After the defeat of St. Laurent's government in 1957, he was elected to succeed him as leader of the Liberal Party in January 1958, becoming leader of the official opposition. He became prime minister in 1963 with only a plurality in parliament; the 1965 elections brought no change. His government introduced a national pension plan and a family assistance program, laid the groundwork for the National Free Medical Service, and introduced Canada's first distinctive national flag and an official national anthem. He resigned in 1968 and retired from politics.
Pecheny, Vladimir (Petrovich) (b. June 20, 1949, Chernovtsy, Ukrainian S.S.R.), acting governor of Magadan oblast (2013- ).
Péchoux, Laurent (Elisée) (b. Oct. 15, 1904 - d. Jan. 28, 2000), acting governor-general of French Equatorial Africa (1947), governor of Ivory Coast (1948-52), commissioner of French Togo (1952-55), and governor of New Caledonia (1958-63).
Peckford, (Alfred) Brian (b. Aug. 27, 1942, Whitbourne, Newfoundland), premier of Newfoundland (1979-89). He first became involved in politics as a Liberal but joined the Progressive Conservative Party (PC) in 1969. In 1972 he was elected to the provincial House of Assembly and, after two years as special assistant to Premier Frank Moores, he was appointed minister of the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing in 1974. In 1976 he became minister of mines and energy and, in 1978, minister of rural development as well. Called self-assertive and even brash by some observers, he first came to prominence when, as minister of mines and energy, he negotiated and implemented the province's oil and gas development regulations. They were so tough that the multinational oil companies stopped their explorations in the province, but Peckford believed that sooner or later Newfoundland's resources would be in demand no matter what the cost. Indeed, offshore exploration resumed in 1979. At the Newfoundland PC convention on March 17, 1979, he solidly won the post of party leader, replacing the retiring Moores. After succeeding Moores as premier on March 26, he hastily called a provincial election in which his Conservatives defeated the Liberals under Don Jamieson. His platform included promises of more attention to Labrador (the mainland part of the province) and programs to preserve and promote Newfoundland culture. He introduced financial programs that had distinct social overtones. He fought an epic battle with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's Liberals for the right to control Newfoundland's offshore wealth, both fish and oil. After Brian Mulroney's Conservatives were elected in 1984, Peckford succeeded in negotiating the Atlantic Accord, giving him what he considered to be Newfoundland's fair share and control over offshore wealth.
Pedan, Nikolay (Gavrilovich) (b. Dec. 12, 1941, Mingrelskaya village, Abinsky rayon, Krasnodar kray, Russian S.F.S.R.), prime minister of Adygeya (1995-97).
Pedersen, Thor (b. June 14, 1945, Gentofte, Denmark), interior minister (1987-93) and finance minister (2001-07) of Denmark. In 2007 he became speaker of the Folketing.
Pedini Amati, Federico (b. Aug. 11, 1976), captain-regent of San Marino (2008).
Pedini Angelini, Maria Lea (b. 1954), captain-regent of San Marino (1981). She was the first woman in that position.
Pedralva, Francisco Coelho do Amaral Reis, visconde de (b. 1873 - d. 1938), governor-general of Angola (1920-21). He became visconde de Pedralva in 1904.
Pedrazzini, Luigi (b. March 4, 1953, Locarno, Ticino, Switzerland), president of the Council of State of Ticino (2001-02, 2006-07, 2010-11).
Pedro I, in full Pedro de Alcântara Francisco Antônio João Carlos Xavier de Paula Miguel Rafael Joaquim José Gonzaga Pascual Cipriano Serafim (in Portugal Antônio is spelled António) (b. Oct. 12, 1798, Queluz, Portugal - d. Sept. 24, 1834, Queluz), emperor of Brazil (1822-31) and (as Pedro IV) king of Portugal (1826-28). He was the son of King João VI of Portugal. When the French conquered Portugal in 1807, Pedro accompanied the royal family in its flight to Brazil. He remained there as regent when King João returned to Portugal in 1821. Pedro surrounded himself with ministers who counseled independence. When the Portuguese Cortes (parliament) demanded that Pedro return to Lisbon, he refused; when it sought to curb his authority, he declared Brazil independent in the grito do Ipiranga on Sept. 7, 1822. The next month he established Brazil as an empire. But his initial popularity soon waned as there was widespread resentment against the Portuguese nobility that influenced his court. When the constituent assembly of 1823 attempted to draft a liberal constitution, he dissolved that body and exiled the radical leader José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva. On March 25, 1824, Pedro accepted another constitution, drafted by the Council of State, but this did not reestablish his popularity. His autocratic manner, continuing interest in Portuguese affairs, and the failure of his military forces to uphold Brazil's claims to what is now Uruguay antagonized his subjects. Strong opposition in parliament and a series of local uprisings induced him to abdicate in 1831 in favour of his 5-year-old son Pedro II. He then returned to Portugal, fighting to secure the Portuguese throne for his daughter, Maria II. He had succeeded to that throne on the death of João VI in 1826; knowing that he had to abdicate because of incompatibility with his position as emperor of Brazil, he nevertheless used this brief window to issue a constitutional charter for Portugal. He abdicated in favour of Maria and served as regent for her from 1830 until four days before his death, at which point she was prematurely declared of age.
Pedro II, in full Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Leopoldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocâdio Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga (b. Dec. 2, 1825, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - d. Dec. 5, 1891, Paris, France), emperor of Brazil (1831-89). When he was five years old, his father, Pedro I, abdicated in his favour; after a nine-year regency he was declared of age on July 23, 1840, and was crowned emperor on July 18, 1841. Disturbances in the provinces, which had plagued the regency, continued for the next five years, but by that time the young emperor's profound concern for his subjects was recognized and he enjoyed almost unqualified support for 40 years. Considering himself the arbiter of Brazil's political life, he used his constitutional power to moderate the antagonistic groups in the country, astutely alternating support for the Liberal and Conservative parties. His government intervened in Uruguay and in 1852 Brazil's troops were instrumental in the defeat of the Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas. He led Brazil into the War of the Triple Alliance (with Argentina and Uruguay) against Paraguay (1864-70), gaining new territory and prestige for Brazil. By the end of his reign his support had weakened, a crucial factor being the issue of slavery. Though personally opposed to slavery, he felt that in Brazil's agriculturally based economy abolition would have to occur gradually. Complete emancipation was at last decreed in 1888. He also found himself removed from increasingly powerful elements in society, particularly the urban middle class and the military. In 1889 he was forced to abdicate by military leaders who considered the monarchy an anachronism. The imperial family went into exile in Europe. In 1920 his remains were returned to Brazil to be placed in a chapel in Petrópolis, the city (named after him) where he had his summer residence.
Pedro III, in full Pedro Clemente Francisco José António (b. July 5, 1717, Lisbon, Portugal - d. May 25, 1786, Ajuda, Portugal), king consort of Portugal (1777-86). The younger son of João V of Portugal, he was married in July 1760 to the daughter of his elder brother, King José I. When she became queen as Maria I (Feb. 24, 1777), Pedro got the courtesy style of king. He devoted himself entirely to religious practices.
Pedro IV: see Pedro I.
Pedro V, in full Pedro de Alcântara Maria Fernando Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Xavier João António Leopoldo Víctor Francisco de Assis Júlio Amélio (b. Sept. 16, 1837, Lisbon, Portugal - d. Nov. 11, 1861, Lisbon), king of Portugal (1853-61). He was the eldest son of Queen Maria II. After succeeding his mother he had his father, Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, as regent for him till he became of age on his 18th birthday. Meanwhile he went on a long tour of the more industrialized states of Europe; in England he formed a close understanding with the prince-consort Albert (his father's first cousin), with whom he later maintained a regular correspondence. Earnest and enlightened, Pedro devoted himself to his country's problems. In external affairs, he was concerned with the occupation of Cabinda, Molembo, and Ambriz, in northern Angola (1855); with the final abolition of slavery (1856); with the convention (1857) whereby the Holy See restored the effect of the Portuguese patronate over dioceses in India and the Far East, after having practically abolished it in 1838; and with the detention of the French slave ship Charles et Georges off the coast of Mozambique (1857), which led to conflict with the French government (1858-59). In Portugal itself he had to face successive epidemics of cholera and yellow fever (1854-57). He founded the Curso Superior de Letras (1859) for teaching literature, philosophy, and history at university level. He married Stephanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1858, but she died in 1859; he died childless and was succeeded by his brother Luís.
Peel, Sir (William) John (b. June 16, 1912 - d. May 8, 2004), British resident in Brunei (1946-48) and resident commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (1949-51); son of Sir William Peel. His career as a Conservative MP (1957-74) was notable for his controversial defense of the government's handling of the massacre of 11 suspected Mau Mau in Kenya. In July 1959, the House of Commons debated the deaths, which had been blamed on poisoned water but were found to have been the result of beatings administered by African guards at Hola concentration camp. Peel took an unfortunate tack when he said: "There are obvious risks in dealing with desperate and subhuman individuals." This earned immediate protests from the opposition. He then tried to mitigate his remarks by explaining: "If honourable members remember the type of oath that was taken by Mau Mau followers, I am staggered to think that they can come to any other conclusion but that such men were, for the time being at least, subhuman." He was subsequently appointed a junior whip and later a full whip and lord commissioner of the treasury until 1964; in that time he won great respect from fellow Tories for his hard work and efficiency. It was as a keen European that he made his mark in his later career. He was one of six Tory MPs who sent a letter to the principal European papers declaring that Britain did not intend to accept a French veto over its application to join the Common Market. He was a parliamentary delegate to the Council of Europe and later president of the Western European Union in 1972, when he was also elected president of the North Atlantic Assembly. After Britain joined the Common Market in 1973, he was knighted and appointed a member of the U.K. parliamentary delegation to the European Parliament at Strasbourg.
Peel, Sir William (b. Feb. 27, 1875 - d. Feb. 24, 1945), British adviser in Kedah (1923-25), resident councillor of Penang (1925-26), chief secretary of the Federated Malay States (1926-30), and governor of Hong Kong (1930-35); knighted 1928.
Peeters, Kris (b. May 18, 1962), minister-president of Flanders (2007- ).
Pehkonen, Eero (Yrjö) (b. May 28, 1882, Liminka, Finland - d. Feb. 27, 1949, Oulu, Finland), governor of Oulu (1925-48).
Peirano, Miguel (Gustavo) (b. Oct. 1, 1966, Buenos Aires, Argentina), economy minister of Argentina (2007).
Peirano Facio, Jorge (b. 1920 - d. April 20, 2003, Montevideo, Uruguay), foreign minister of Uruguay (1970-71).
Peiris, Gamini Lakshman (b. Aug. 13, 1946, Colombo, Ceylon [now Sri Lanka]), foreign minister of Sri Lanka (2010- ). He was justice minister in 1994-99.
Peixoto, José Carlos de Matos (b. March 12, 1884 - d. Jan. 25, 1976, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), governor of Ceará (1928-30).
Peker, (Mehmet) Recep (b. Feb. 5, 1889, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey] - d. April 1, 1950, Istanbul), Turkish politician. He fought in the Balkan Wars (1912-13), in World War I, and, as staff major, in the Turkish War of Independence (1919-22). Elected deputy for Kütahya to the Grand National Assembly in 1923, he became in the same year secretary-general of the Republican People's Party (RPP) and editor of the daily newspaper Ulus. He was minister of the interior (1924-25), minister of defense (1925-27), and minister of public works (1928-30). From 1931 to 1937 he was again secretary-general of the RPP and in 1942-43 again minister of the interior. From 1946 to 1947 he was prime minister. He was considered to be the leader of the die-hard section of the RPP.
Pekkala, Ahti (Antti Johannes) (b. Dec. 20, 1924, Haapavesi, Finland), speaker of the Eduskunta (1978-79) and finance minister (1979-86) of Finland and governor of Oulu (1986-91).
Pekkala, Mauno (b. Jan. 27, 1890, Sysmä, Finland - d. June 30, 1952, Helsinki, Finland), finance minister (1939-42), defense minister (1945-46), and prime minister (1946-48) of Finland.
Pelaez, Emmanuel (Neri) (b. Nov. 30, 1915, Medina, Misamis Oriental province, Philippines - d. July 27, 2003, Muntinlupa City, near Manila, Philippines), vice president (1961-65) and foreign secretary (1961-63) of the Philippines.
Pelenato Fuluhea (d. July 8, 1970), ruler of `Uvea (1947-50).
Pelicier, Marie Marc Georges (b. Sept. 25, 1893 - d. Jan. 20, 1970), governor of New Caledonia (1939-40).
Pélieu, Pierre François (b. June 8, 1906 - d. [plane crash] June 27, 1952), governor of Gabon (1949-51) and Ivory Coast (1952).
Pélissier, Aimable Jean Jacques, duc de (duke of) Malakoff (b. Nov. 16, 1794, Maromme, Seine-Inférieure [now Seine-Maritime], France - d. May 22, 1864, Algiers, Algeria), French general. Commissioned as an artillery second lieutenant in 1815, he took part in the expeditions to Spain (1823) and to the Peloponnese (1828-29). After his first brief service in Algeria (1830), he returned there in 1839, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, to take part in the campaign against the emir of Mascara, Abd-el-Kader. He shocked European opinion by smoking to death the Ouled-Riah tribe when it took shelter in caves near Mostaganem (June 1845). Governor-General Thomas Robert Bugeaud, however, protected him, and he was promoted to general (1846) and made commander of Oran province (1848-51). His furious temper and his sarcasm became notorious. In 1851 he was interim governor-general of Algeria. Subsequently, he played a leading role in the subjugation of the tribes of southern Algeria. During the Crimean War, when Gen. F.C. Canrobert failed to take Sevastopol, Pélissier was first given command of an army corps (January 1855), then appointed commander in chief (May 16). His attack of June 18 on the fort of Malakhov (Malakoff) was unsuccessful, but he defeated a Russian counterattack on the Traktir bridge over the Chernaya River on August 16, and both Malakhov and Sevastopol itself fell on September 8. Four days later he was made marshal of France, and on July 5, 1858, he was created duc de Malakoff. From March 1858 to April 1859 he was French ambassador to London. During the war of 1858 against Austria, he commanded the army of the Rhine. In November 1860 he was appointed governor-general of Algeria, where he served until his death.
Pelivan, Stipo, also called Stipe Pelivan (b. Oct. 27, 1959, Livno [now in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina]), premier of West Bosnia (2000-01, 2003-07).
Peliza, Sir Robert (John) (b. Nov. 16, 1920, Gibraltar - d. Dec. 12, 2011), chief minister of Gibraltar (1969-72); knighted 1998.
Pella, Giuseppe (b. April 18, 1902, Valdengo, Piemonte, Italy - d. May 31, 1981, Rome, Italy), prime minister (1953-54) and foreign minister (1953-54, 1957-58, 1959-60) of Italy. He became a member of the Fascist party and shortly before World War II served as deputy mayor of Biella, where he earned a reputation as a wizard of public finances. After the war, he was elected to the city council as a Christian Democrat and six months later he was elected to the Constituent Assembly that drew up the Italian constitution. He held the top economic post in Italy from 1947 to 1952. A strict conservative in his financial views, he was the dogged defender of the lira in the financial confusion of Europe after the war. In the De Gasperi government, whenever Pella's policies came under attack as too conservative, De Gasperi would change his title, from minister of finance to minister of treasury or budget, but his work remained the same. He became prime minister and budget minister in 1953 after the resignation of Alcide De Gasperi, the Christian Democrat leader who had headed every Italian government for the previous seven and a half years. Within a few weeks of assuming office, Pella faced a dispute with Yugoslavia over Trieste. After a blunt speech by Marshal Tito, he ordered Italy's best army division deployed on the eastern border and sent the Italian navy steaming up the Adriatic. A year later, another Italian government came to terms with Belgrade and reoccupied Trieste. The Pella government lasted barely five months and was marked by squabbles between De Gasperi and the Christian Democratic leadership. Thereafter, Pella had a feeble following within the party but was popular with Christian Democratic voters. He was budget minister again in 1960-62.
Pelletier, Monique (Denyse), née Bédier (b. July 25, 1926, Trouville-sur-Mer, Calvados, France), French politician. In the 1970s she entered local politics, becoming assistant mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, the richest suburb of Paris, and a member of the political bureau of the Republican Party, which supported Pres. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. In 1977 Giscard appointed her to lead a major national investigation into drug addiction and, in particular, the problems of drug abuse among young people. The conclusions of her report on drug abuse earned her the nickname "Madame Anti-Drogue." In the beginning of 1978, she became secretary of state in the Ministry of Justice. On Sept. 12, 1978, she was appointed minister-delegate for the status of women, the first time that the government member responsible for women had been given ministerial rank (the first "minister for women," Françoise Giraud, had the rank of secretary of state). Pelletier welcomed the opportunity to speak on equal terms with other ministers and declared that she saw herself as "the permanent conscience of the government in questions relating to women." The energetic mother of seven embarked on the preparation of a reform of laws relating to marriage with the aim of making them more favourable to women. She also began examining the question of pensions for mothers who had had several children, but she rejected as unrealistic proposals for "housewives' salary." The cost of such a salary, in her estimation, would exceed the total of receipts from income tax. She served until 1981 and then left politics.
Pelloux, Luigi (Girolamo) (b. March 1, 1839, La Roche, Savoy [now in France] - d. Oct. 26, 1924, Bordighera, Italy), prime minister of Italy (1898-1900). He fought in several battles against Austria, and as major commanded the brigade of artillery that breached the wall of Rome at Porta Pia (1870), thus allowing the occupation of the city, which was made the capital of united Italy. Elected to parliament in 1881 as deputy for Livorno, which he represented until 1895, he was promoted to general (1885) and served as minister of war (1891-93, 1896-97). In 1896 he was made a senator. In May 1898 he was sent as royal commissioner to Bari. Recognizing that the disturbances there arose from economic need, he succeeded in restoring public order without recourse to martial law. When similar outbursts in other Italian cities led to the downfall of the government in June, he was invited to form a cabinet, and took for himself the post of interior minister. He withdrew some bills of the previous administration that would have restricted civil liberties, but in February 1899 he introduced his own repressive public safety bill. To avoid defeat on his foreign policy, which featured an unsuccessful military expedition to China, he resigned in May and formed a second, strongly conservative government. Although the country was now quite calm, he attempted to make his earlier bill even more repressive, thus uniting the left in opposition against him. He had the bill passed by royal decree (June), but this was ruled void by the Court of Cassation (February 1900). His failure to overcome obstruction in the Chamber of Deputies led to a dissolution (May) and, after the general election, to his resignation (June 18). He was given command of an army corps at Turin (1900-02) and never regained political prominence.
Pelly, Sir John Henry, (1st) Baronet (b. March 31, 1777, Upton, Essex, England - d. Aug. 13, 1852), governor of the Hudson's Bay Company (1822-52). He was created a baronet in 1840.
Pelse, Arvids, Russian Arvid Yanovich Pelshe (b. Feb. 7, 1899, Grunwald, Russia [now Bauska, Latvia] - d. May 29, 1983, Moscow, U.S.S.R.), Latvian Communist leader. A member of the Russian Communist Party from 1915, he was elected a deputy of the Petrograd Workers' and Soldiers' Soviet and took part in the Bolshevik revolution of November 1917 led by Lenin. In 1919 he was attached to the Red Army and was a participant in the unsuccessful attempt to establish Soviet power in Latvia. Pelse graduated from the Institute of Red Professors in 1931, became a member of the party organization in Kazakhstan in 1933, then served (1937-40) as a lecturer at the Moscow Higher Educational Institute. In June 1940 he played a leading role in the armed sovietization of Latvia. The following year he became a secretary of the Central Committee of the Latvian Communist Party and from 1959 was its first secretary. In 1956 he became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and in 1966 a member of the CPSU control commission. As the oldest ethnically non-Russian member of the Communist summit, he was honoured by having his ashes placed in the Kremlin wall in Moscow.
Pen Sovan (b. April 15, 1936, Chhan Teap village, Takeo province, Cambodia), prime minister of Cambodia (1981).
Peña, Federico (Fabian) (b. March 15, 1947, Laredo, Texas), mayor of Denver (1983-91) and U.S. secretary of transportation (1993-97).
Peña Gómez, José Francisco (b. March 6, 1937, Hato Nuevo, Valverde province, Dominican Republic - d. May 10, 1998, Cambita Garabitos, San Cristóbal province, Dominican Republic), Dominican Republic politician. He became secretary-general of the leftist Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) of Juan Bosch. By the time Bosch was elected president in 1962, Peña Gómez had emerged as a protégé. However, Bosch was ousted by a coup in 1963, which led to a civil war, and, in April 1965, a U.S. invasion. Peña Gómez headed the opposition to that intervention, which led to Joaquín Balaguer's becoming president. Repression was intense throughout that period, and Peña Gómez eventually had to leave the country, taking refuge in France. Bosch and Peña Gómez had a falling out that resulted in Bosch's breaking with the party that he had founded and setting up a new one. In 1982, Peña Gómez was elected mayor of Santo Domingo (until 1986), which automatically made him a strong contender for the presidency. But his party passed him by in 1986, with some of its leaders arguing that it would be impossible for a black man, especially one of Haitian descent, to defeat Balaguer, who was notorious for his disdain for blacks. The PRD lost to Balaguer anyway, and in 1990, Peña Gómez finally won the nomination. He finished third in a vote marred by widespread accusations of fraud after a campaign that was full of racial innuendo, but he vowed to try again. In 1994, he won his party's nomination for a second time, but had to contend with even more blatant race baiting and vote fraud. With Balaguer barred from succeeding himself, Peña Gómez finished ahead of two strong competitors in the first round of a special presidential vote in 1996, but was narrowly defeated by Leonel Fernández in the second round. He was also vice president of the Socialist International.
Peña Nieto, Enrique (b. July 20, 1966, Atlacomulco, México, Mexico), governor of México (2005-11) and president of Mexico (2012- ).
Penaud, Charles (Eugène) (b. Dec. 24, 1800, Brest, Finistère, France - d. March 25, 1864, aboard La Ville de Paris in the harbour of Toulon, France), commandant of the Naval Division of the Western Coasts of Africa (1850-51).
Pénavaire, Romain Victor (Joseph) (b. March 23, 1904 - d. Dec. 3, 1968), commissioner of Cambodia (1946-47).
Penfield, James K(edzie) (b. April 9, 1908, New York City - d. Sept. 11, 2004, Seattle, Wash.), U.S. consul-general in Greenland (1941-45). He was also U.S. ambassador to Iceland (1961-67).
Peng Dehuai (Pinyin), Wade-Giles P'eng Te-huai (b. 1898, Xiangdan, Hunan province, China - d. Nov. 29, 1974, Beijing, China), Chinese military leader. He was a military commander under Chiang Kai-shek and a participant in the Northern Expedition (1926-27) to unite China under a single government. In 1927 he broke with Chiang, who attempted to rid the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) of leftist elements. In 1928 Peng joined the Communists and led his forces in guerrilla operations against the Kuomintang. He quickly became a top military commander in the forces led by Zhu De and Mao Zedong. After the Communists were encircled in south-central China he participated in the retreat to the northwest known as the Long March (1934-35). From the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 to 1954 he ranked second only to Zhu in the Communists' military hierarchy. During the war he served as deputy commander in chief of the main Communist forces, known as the 8th Route Army. When the war ended he was elected to the Communist Party's Central Committee. In the civil war against the Kuomintang (1946-49) he was the conqueror of the northwestern provinces. In the Korean War he commanded the Chinese forces, known as the Chinese People's Volunteers, and signed the armistice at Panmunjom on July 27, 1953. He became the first defense minister of the People's Republic and a vice-premier in 1954, was promoted to marshal in 1955, and was made a member of the party's Politburo in 1956. When he attacked the policies of Mao's Great Leap Forward in 1959, he was removed as defense minister, but nominally retained his posts as vice-premier and vice-chairman of the National Defense Council until 1965. In 1967 he was dismissed from the Central Committee of the party. He was posthumously "rehabilitated" in December 1978.
Peng Hanzhang (b. 1890, Tongchuan, Sichuan, China - d. Aug. 12, 1927, Hankou [now in Wuhan], Hubei, China), military (1925) and civil (1925-26) governor of Guizhou. He graduated from Yunnan Army College as a teenager and led his forces into Guizhou together with Tang Jiyao in 1912.
Peng Zhen (Pinyin), Wade-Giles P'eng Chen (b. Oct. 12, 1902, Quwo county, Shanxi province, China - d. April 26, 1997, Beijing, China), Chinese politician. He joined the Communist Party in 1923 and organized movements of workers and students in various places. He served six years in prison (1929-35). After the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, he founded anti-Japanese bases in the north. In 1945 he became a member of the party's Central Committee and Politburo and in 1948 head of the party's organization department and party chief of Beiping (Beijing). After the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, he was appointed mayor of Beijing in 1951. A number of major construction projects in Beijing were completed under his leadership. He sided with Deng Xiaoping in rebelling against the Great Leap Forward, a disastrous plan to accelerate the pace of development, which resulted in mass starvation. In 1966, he used his leading position in the capital to try to block criticism of a play about a Ming Dynasty official wrongfully dismissed by the emperor. Mao, however, saw the play as an attack on him and his economic policies. Mao exiled Peng to the countryside, making him one of the first victims of the Cultural Revolution. Rehabilitated in 1978, he was widely credited for creating a legal structure to prevent the reemergence of the arbitrary rule Mao enjoyed. He regained his seat in the Politburo in 1979 and became vice-chairman and, in 1983, chairman of the National People's Congress (parliament). Although he was a close associate of Deng's, he was also opposed to the scale and pace of Deng's economic reforms. Peng, considered one of the "Eight Immortals," retired in 1988 but remained a force in politics, supporting the suppression of the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations.
Pengel, Johan Adolf, byname Jopie Pengel (b. Jan. 20, 1916, Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana [now Suriname] - d. June 5, 1970, Paramaribo), chief minister of Suriname (1963-69).
Penic, Ivan (b. Nov. 12, 1954), interior minister of Croatia (1996-2000).
Penn(-Sallah), (Ruth) Dancia (née Penn; Sallah is husband's name) (b. Nov. 23, 1951, Tortola, British Virgin Islands), attorney general (1992-99), deputy governor (2004-07), acting governor (2006), and health minister (2007-11) of the British Virgin Islands.
Penn Nouth, Samdech (b. April 1, 1906, Phnom Penh, Cambodia - d. May 18, 1985, Châtenay-Malabry, near Paris, France), Cambodian politician. Trained for the French colonial service at the Cambodian School of Administration, he worked in the Paris Ministry of Colonies (1938) before returning home as assistant to the minister of the palace (1940). He served as finance minister (1945 [interim], 1954), governor of Phnom Penh (1946-48), prime minister (1948-49, 1953, 1954-55, 1958, 1961, 1968-69), interior minister (1948-49, 1961-62), information minister (1948-49), defense minister (1950), foreign minister (1958), and ambassador to France (1958-60). He received the title of Samdech in January 1956. His adherence to Norodom Sihanouk's policies continued after the latter's exile in 1970, but he had increasing reservations about Sihanouk's association with the Khmer Rouge insurgents. He was prime minister of Sihanouk's alternative government from 1970, at first in exile in Beijing but from 1975 to 1976 in Phnom Penh.
Penza, Ronald (Damson Siame) (b. 1949? - d. Nov. 6, 1998, Lusaka, Zambia), Zambian politician. Under Pres. Frederick Chiluba he became commerce, trade, and industry minister in 1991 and finance minister in 1993. He spearheaded the dismantling of the socialist command economy the government inherited from former president Kenneth Kaunda. In 1994, Euromoney, a World Bank and IMF publication, named him the world's second best finance minister. He supervised a privatization programme, one of Africa's most radical, until he was sacked by Chiluba in March 1998 over policy differences. Later that year he was shot dead by armed men who broke into his house in the affluent Ibex Hill area of Lusaka. Police said it was a robbery, and that five armed men responsible for the murder were shot dead by police during an attempt to apprehend them.
Peplinski, Franz (b. 1910 - d. Nov. 12, 1991), East German politician; chairman of the District Councils of Frankfurt (1952-56) and Potsdam (1960-62).
Pepper, Claude (Denson) (b. Sept. 8, 1900, near Dudleyville, Ala. - d. May 30, 1989, Washington, D.C.), U.S. politician. As a first-term Florida legislator (1929-30), the Democrat sponsored his first bill for the elderly, exempting older anglers from buying fishing licenses. He then lost a reelection bid after opposing a resolution to censure Mrs. Herbert Hoover for inviting a Negro to the White House. Elected to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy in 1936, he was called a "fighting liberal" by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt. He endorsed Roosevelt's New Deal policies and ardently advocated the adoption of the legislation that created Social Security, a minimum wage, and medical assistance for the elderly and for handicapped children. Pepper, called "Red Pepper" by some for his red hair and fiery oratory and by others for his liberal views, lost his Senate seat in the 1950 election, at the height of the McCarthy period, after a campaign notorious for smears and innuendo. But when the state gained an additional congressional seat as a result of reapportionment, he ran for it and won (1962), holding it until his death. He became a national spokesman for the elderly. As chairman of the House Select Committee on Aging, he was instrumental in reorganizing the nearly bankrupt Social Security system and in forcing Pres. Ronald Reagan to back down on reducing benefits. In 1983 he became chairman of the crucial Rules Committee. He sponsored a bill, passed in 1986, that abolished mandatory retirement in the federal government and raised the retirement age from 65 to 70 in the private sector. He was also instrumental in the passage of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988. Pres. George Bush visited Pepper five days before his death to bestow on him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Pequeno, Ovídio (Manuel Barbosa do Nascimento) (b. Nov. 5, 1954), foreign minister of São Tomé and Príncipe (2004-06, 2007-08). He also served as ambassador to the United States (2006-07) and Canada and Brazil (2006-07) and as permanent representative to the United Nations (2006-07).
Peracchi Barcellos, Walter (d. Aug. 13, 1986), governor of Rio Grande do Sul (1966-71).
Peralta, Daniel (Román) (b. 1955), governor of Santa Cruz (2007- ).
Peralta Azurdia, (Alfredo) Enrique (b. June 17, 1908, Guatemala City, Guatemala - d. Feb. 18, 1997, Guatemala City), president of Guatemala (1963-66). He was defense minister under Pres. Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes. He removed Ydígoras in a coup, declared a state of emergency, and canceled elections. He then began a crackdown on a growing leftist insurgency. Known for his brutal disregard for human rights, his harsh measures nevertheless did not stamp out the guerrillas.
Peralta López, José María (b. Oct. 17, 1928, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico), governor of Tabasco (1987-88).
Perceval, Spencer (b. Nov. 1, 1762, London, England - d. May 11, 1812, London), British prime minister (1809-12); son of John Perceval, Earl of Egmont. In 1796 he entered Parliament as member for Northampton and supported Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. An evangelical and ardent opponent of Catholic emancipation, he once identified Napoléon Bonaparte as the "woman drunken with the blood of the saints" of Revelation 17:3-6. In 1801, on the formation of the government of Henry Addington, he was appointed solicitor general. In 1802 he became attorney general, retaining that post through Pitt's second administration (1804-06). In 1807 he became chancellor of the exchequer and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster under the Duke of Portland, whom he succeeded as prime minister in 1809. Initially considered by many as a mere transitional figure, he surprised everyone by surviving a succession of crises, including King George III losing his sanity; he earned the favour of the prince regent and by March 1812 the cabinet was fully under his control, political leader George Canning seeing no reason why Perceval should not remain in power for 20 years. Only weeks later, however, he was shot and killed in the lobby of the House of Commons by John Bellingham, a man who had vainly applied to the government for redress of a grievance dating back to 1804 when he had been arrested for debt in Arkhangelsk, Russia, and British diplomats did not act on his appeals for help. (Bellingham was hanged seven days later.) Perceval was the only British prime minister ever assassinated.
Perdomo Paredes, Roberto (b. Aug. 29, 1926, Trinidad, Honduras - d. March 7, 2007, Tegucigalpa, Honduras), foreign minister of Honduras (1962-63, 1976). In 1961-62 he was a delegate to the Honduras-Nicaragua commission that helped define the border between the two countries. He also was interior and justice minister in 1963 and ambassador to the Organization of American States. In 1981 he served as ambassador to Nicaragua and in 1983 to Colombia. He was vice president of the Supreme Court in 1989-99.
Perdue, Beverly (Eaves), née Beverly Marlene Moore (b. Jan. 14, 1947, Grundy, Va.), governor of North Carolina (2009-13).
Perdue, Sonny, byname of George Ervin Perdue III (b. Dec. 20, 1946, Perry, Ga.), governor of Georgia (2003-11). In 1990 he was elected to the state Senate as a Democrat; he was easily reelected and was elected Senate majority leader in 1994 and Senate president pro tem in 1997. His major legislative success was a law to deregulate natural gas; he voted against Gov. Zell Miller's lottery to fund Hope scholarships and opposed a moment of silence bill because he favoured prayer in schools. In 1998 he announced that he was switching parties and running for reelection as a Republican; he said his values were not the same as Bill Clinton's and those of other Democrats and that his efforts to change the party had not worked. He was stripped of his leadership posts and staff, but was reelected as a Republican with 70% of the vote. In December 2001, after his Senate seat had been hacked up in redistricting, he resigned his seat and announced he was running for governor. Coming from south (or at least central) Georgia, he employed a rural strategy. It helped him win 51% in the August 2002 primary against state school superintendent Linda Schrenko (28%) and former Cobb County commissioner Bill Byrne (21%). Then, in the biggest shock of election night 2002, Perdue beat Gov. Roy Barnes 51%-46%. Barnes led very narrowly in metro Atlanta, 49%-48%, but Perdue won the rest of the state 55%-43%. He became the first Republican governor of Georgia since Reconstruction. In 2006, unlike in 2002, Perdue led the race from the start. Buoyed by a mountain of campaign cash, a relatively strong economy, and an easygoing, everyman image, he became the first Republican governor in the state's history to be reelected, defeating Democrat Mark Taylor 58%-38%.
Pereda Asbún, Juan (b. June 17, 1931, La Paz, Bolivia - d. Nov. 25, 2012, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia), president of Bolivia (1978).
Pereira, Amílcar da Silva (b. Feb. 16, 1919 - d. Feb. 27, 2012), governor of Amapá (1956-58).
Pereira, André Gonçalves (b. 1936, Lisbon, Portugal), foreign minister of Portugal (1981-82).
Pereira, Aristides (Maria) (b. Nov. 17, 1923, Boa Vista island, Cape Verde - d. Sept. 22, 2011, Coimbra, Portugal), president of Cape Verde (1975-91).
Pereira, Epitácio Cafeteira Afonso (b. June 27, 1924, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil), governor of Maranhão (1987-90).
Pereira, Raimundo (b. Aug. 28, 1956, Bissau, Portuguese Guinea [now Guinea-Bissau]), interim president of Guinea-Bissau (2009, 2012). He was justice minister in 2004-05.
Pereira, Vasco Futscher (b. 1922, Lisbon, Portugal - d. 1984), foreign minister of Portugal (1982-83).
Pereira de Araújo, Radir (b. April 5, 1920 - d. June 7, 2000), acting governor of Rio Grande do Norte (1986-87).
Pereira de Melo, António Maria de Fontes (b. Sept. 8, 1819, Lisbon, Portugal - d. Jan. 22, 1887), governor of Cape Verde (1839-42, 1847-51).
Perera, (Mallawa Arachchige) Gamini Jayawickrama (b. Jan. 29, 1941), chief minister of North Western province, Sri Lanka (1988-93).
Peres, Shimon, original name Szymon Perski (b. Aug. 16, 1923, Wisniewo, Poland [now Vishneva, Belarus]), prime minister (1984-86, 1995-96) and president (2007- ) of Israel. In 1934 he moved with his family to Palestine, where in 1947 he joined the Haganah, a Zionist military organization. He was deputy defense minister in 1959-65 and became minister for the administered areas (West Bank and Gaza) in 1969 and defense minister in the Labour cabinet of Yitzhak Rabin in 1974. In 1977 he became head of the Labour Party and, after Rabin's resignation, was acting prime minister. He was defeated in 1977 and 1981 but after the indecisive elections of 1984 Peres and Yitzhak Shamir, head of the Likud, agreed on sharing power, with Peres as prime minister for the first half of a 50-month term and Shamir as deputy prime minister and foreign minister; the roles were reversed for the second 25-month period. In another coalition government in 1988-90, Peres was finance minister. In 1992, he lost the Labour leadership to Rabin. When Rabin became prime minister that year, Peres became foreign minister. In 1993, he helped negotiate a peace accord with Yasir Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, for which they, along with Rabin, were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994. Following the assassination of Rabin in 1995, Peres again became prime minister, but in 1996 he was narrowly defeated by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu. He was succeeded as Labour leader by Ehud Barak in 1997. When Barak became prime minister in 1999, Peres was named minister of regional development. Under Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert he became deputy prime minister and foreign minister (2001-02), vice prime minister (2005, 2006-07), and minister of regional development (2006-07). He was again leader of the Labour Party in 2003-05; after losing the leadership to Amir Peretz, he left Labour to support the new Kadima party. In 2007 he was elected president.
Peretz, Amir, original name Armand Peretz (changed first to Amram, then Amiram, and finally Amir) (b. March 9, 1952, Boujad, Morocco), defense minister of Israel (2006-07). He immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of four. He first entered the political arena in 1983 when he ran for mayor of Sderot on behalf of the Labour Party and was elected. In 1988 he was first elected to the Knesset. In 1995, he became the leader of the Histadrut, the powerful federation of Israeli labour unions. Following a dispute with Labour leader Ehud Barak, Peretz established the One Nation party in preparation for the 1999 Knesset elections. The party won two seats in 1999 and three in 2003; in 2004 it merged with Labour. He then began campaigning for the Labour leadership, and in November 2005 scored an upset victory when he narrowly defeated party stalwart Shimon Peres. He then pulled the party out of the coalition government to precipitate new elections in 2006. In the new coalition government formed after the election, he became defense minister. Soon afterward, Israel launched a war against Lebanon after Hezbollah guerrillas kidnapped two soldiers at the border. Peretz was widely criticized for his handling of the war. In 2007 he lost a vote for Labour leader, coming third after Barak and Ami Ayalon, and subsequently quit as defense minister.
Pereyra, Miguel (Joaquin) de, commissioner of Laos (1953-54).
Pérez (Rodríguez), Carlos Andrés (b. Oct. 27, 1922, Rubio, Táchira state, Venezuela - d. Dec. 25, 2010, Miami, Fla.), president of Venezuela (1974-79, 1989-93). He began his political career in his native state of Táchira, rising through the ranks of the liberal Democratic Action party. When party leader Rómulo Betancourt took power in 1945, Pérez was his secretary. Following a right-wing coup in 1948, he spent some years in exile. After the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez was overthrown in 1958, he was elected to the legislature and held important government and party posts. As interior minister in the early 1960s he was responsible for the government's successful campaign to eradicate a leftist guerrilla movement. He easily won presidential elections in 1973. In 1976 he nationalized the oil industry, which proved to be a bonanza for the country. He was barred by law from seeking reelection for 10 years, but in 1988 he won the office a second time. While he was out of office, oil prices were cut in half, creating serious financial problems. Venezuelans hoped in vain he would bring a return to the boon days. He pursued a program of free market reforms which boosted economic growth, but most Venezuelans saw their standard of living decrease. He survived two coup attempts in 1992 but was removed from office on corruption charges in 1993. In 1994 he was sentenced to 28 months for misappropriation of $17 million in public funds. He served the first few months in a low security jail in Caracas and the remainder under house arrest due to his age. He was arrested in April 1998 on new charges of embezzlement. After congressional elections in November, he walked free with parliamentary immunity as newly elected senator of Táchira. But after the Congress was closed in 1999 to elect a new one under a new constitution, investigations were reopened and he left Venezuela to live in the United States and the Dominican Republic.
Perez, Eddie A(lberto) (b. 1957, Corozal, Puerto Rico), mayor of Hartford (2001-10).
Pérez, Jesús (Arnaldo) (b. Nov. 11, 1953, Veguitas, Barinas, Venezuela), foreign minister of Venezuela (2004). He was previously environment minister (1999-2000) and ambassador to Algeria (2001-02) and France (2002-04).
Pérez(-Cadalso) Arias, Guillermo (Augusto) (b. May 30, 1950, Tegucigalpa, Honduras), foreign minister of Honduras (2002-03).
Pérez Balladares (González Revilla), Ernesto (b. June 29, 1946, Panama City, Panama), president of Panama (1994-99).
Pérez Brito de los Ríos Fernández Valdelomar, Benito (d. Aug. 3, 1813, Panama City, New Granada [now in Panama]), viceroy of New Granada (1812).
Pérez Crespo, Antonio (b. June 16, 1929, Murcia, Spain - d. March 17, 2012, Murcia), president of the Regional Council of Murcia (1978-79).
Pérez de Cuéllar (de la Guerra), Javier (b. Jan. 19, 1920, Lima, Peru), secretary-general of the United Nations (1982-91). He developed an interest in diplomacy when as a student he took a part-time job at the Foreign Ministry in 1940. He joined the diplomatic service in 1944 and became a member of Peru's delegation to the first session of the UN General Assembly in 1946. He was ambassador of Peru to Switzerland (1964-66) and Venezuela (1978-79) and Peru's first ambassador to the Soviet Union (1969-71; concurrently ambassador to Poland). In 1971-75 he was Peru's permanent representative to the UN. In 1979-81, as the UN undersecretary-general for special political affairs, he served as the UN's special representative to negotiate a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. He became the first Latin American UN secretary-general. In August 1988 he negotiated the ceasefire that ended active hostilities in the Iran-Iraq War, but his eleventh-hour diplomatic efforts failed to stop the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq and the United States. He spurred the government and rebels of El Salvador on to a peace agreement that was signed just as he left office. In 1995 he challenged Alberto Fujimori for the presidency of Peru and lost heavily. His message was more populist and left-of-centre than Fujimori's, worrying investors who were eager to see Peru's free market and privatization policies continued. In 2000 Peru's newly-appointed interim president, Valentín Paniagua, named Pérez as prime minister at the head of a cabinet of "unity and national reconciliation." The naming of Pérez appeared a key strategy of Paniagua to bring stability to a nation rocked by a two-month political crisis which ended in Congress firing Fujimori as "morally unfit" after corruption scandals. In 2001-04 he was ambassador to France.
Pérez de Cuéllar
Pérez Godoy, Ricardo Pío (b. June 9, 1905 - d. 1982), Peruvian junta chairman (1962-63).
Pérez Jiménez, Marcos (Evangelista) (b. April 25, 1914, Michelena, Táchira state, Venezuela - d. Sept. 20, 2001, Madrid, Spain), president of Venezuela (1952-58). He participated in a military coup that ousted the dictatorship of Gen. Isaías Medina Angarita in 1945, helping to install the democratic government of Pres. Rómulo Gallegos. But in 1948, he led a coup that ousted Gallegos. A junta of three military officers ruled Venezuela until 1952, when Pérez Jiménez declared himself provisional president; in 1953 he was elected president by a puppet constituent assembly. He assumed the rank of general in 1955. His regime was backed by a security force that silenced opposition leaders by jailing and torturing them. During his term he created grandiose public works, including a highway that connects Caracas to the northern coast, burrowing through the mountains that separate the city from the Caribbean. In 1957, he was reelected in a vote widely considered fraudulent. His regime had lost much public support and a clandestine movement to overthrow him, led by the Democratic Action party, was taking force. On Jan. 23, 1958, a popular uprising backed by the military forced him out of office, and he fled to the Dominican Republic and then to the United States. In 1963, the U.S. extradited him to Venezuela, where he was tried and in 1968 sentenced to four years in prison for embezzling $250 million; having already served nearly five years, he was immediately released and went to Madrid. In 1969 he was elected to the Senate from Caracas, but was denied his seat because he was not a registered voter in Venezuela. In 1972 he briefly visited Caracas and announced his candidacy for the 1973 presidential election, but in 1973 the constitution was amended to bar him from public office; he stayed in Madrid for the rest of his life.
Pérez Martínez, (Gregorio) Manuel (b. May 9, 1943, Alfamén, Zaragoza, Spain - d. Feb. 14, 1998, Colombia), Colombian rebel leader. A native of Spain, he studied for the Catholic priesthood from an early age. After his ordination in 1966 he was a worker-priest in France, then worked in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia. He was expelled from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia as his work among workers and the poor brought him under the scrutiny of the governments and church hierarchies in those countries. In 1968, he arrived in Colombia, where he lived and worked in the Caribbean port city of Cartagena, preaching to the poor. He linked up with a current of priests who were committed to liberation theology. He was particularly inspired by Father Camilo Torres, a courageous religious and political leader who had joined the National Liberation Army (ELN) in 1966, only to die in combat shortly after. In 1969, after his deportation, Pérez secretly returned to Colombia. With two other priests and future ELN leaders, Domingo Laín Sáenz and José Antonio Jiménez Comín, he made contact with an ELN column and began his life as a guerrilla. He was defrocked after he took up arms, but went by the nom de guerre "Cura Pérez" or "Father Pérez." He led the ELN from 1982 until his death of hepatitis at a jungle hideout.
Pérez Molina, Otto (Fernando) (b. Dec. 1, 1950, Guatemala City, Guatemala), president of Guatemala (2012- ).
Pérez Roque, Felipe (Ramón) (b. March 28, 1965, Havana, Cuba), foreign minister of Cuba (1999-2009).
Pérez Yoma, Edmundo (Jaime) (b. Jan. 10, 1939, Antofagasta, Chile), defense minister (1994-98, 1999-2000) and interior minister (2008-10) of Chile. In 1998-99 he was ambassador to Argentina.
Perié, Hugo Rubén, byname Tury Perié (b. March 18, 1944, Posadas, Misiones, Argentina - d. Aug. 15, 2011, Corrientes, Corrientes, Argentina), acting governor of Corrientes (1999).
Périé, Jean (Léon) (b. Oct. 15, 1912 - d. Oct. 22, 1997), administrator-superior of Wallis and Futuna (1961-62).
Perier, Casimir (Pierre) (b. Oct. 11, 1777, Grenoble, France - d. May 16, 1832, Paris), president of the Chamber of Deputies (1830, 1830-31) and prime minister and interior minister (1831-32) of France.
Périllier, (Marcellin Marie) Louis (b. April 1, 1900, Nîmes, Gard, France - d. April 15, 1986, Paris), French resident-general of Tunisia (1950-52).
Perillo, Marconi Ferreira, Júnior (b. March 7, 1963, Palmeiras de Goiás, Goiás, Brazil), governor of Goiás (1999-2006, 2011- ).
Perisin, Ivo (b. July 4, 1925, Kastel Kambelovac, Yugoslavia [now in Croatia] - d. Oct. 30, 2008, Zagreb, Croatia), Yugoslav politician. He was governor of the National Bank of Yugoslavia (1969-71), chairman of the Executive Council of Croatia (1971-74), and president of the Sabor (Assembly) of Croatia (1974-78).
Perk, Ralph J(oseph) (b. Jan. 19, 1914 - d. April 21, 1999, Westlake, Ohio), mayor of Cleveland (1971-77).
Perón, Eva (Duarte de), née María Eva Duarte Ibarguren, byname Evita (b. May 7, 1919, Los Toldos, Argentina - d. July 26, 1952, Buenos Aires, Argentina), Argentine first lady. She met Col. Juan Perón (a widower) after the 1943 revolution that first brought him onto the national political scene, and she had much to do with organizing the labourers of Buenos Aires for the mass demonstration (Oct. 17, 1945) that marked his release from political imprisonment and cleared the way for his drive to the presidency. They were married on October 26. During his 1945-46 presidential campaign, she won the adulation of the masses, whom she addressed as los descamisados ("the shirtless ones"). After he assumed the presidency in 1946, she devoted her boundless energy to extending his revolutionary regime into areas peculiarly her own. She formed a woman branch of the Peronista party in 1949 (having been largely responsible for the passage of a woman suffrage law) and, although never holding any government post, acted as de facto minister of health and labour. She cut off government subsidies to the traditional Sociedad de Beneficencia ("Aid Society") and replaced it with her own Eva Perón Foundation, a huge dispenser of patronage under her control. Supported by "voluntary" union and business contributions plus a substantial cut of the national lottery and other funds, it established thousands of schools, hospitals, and other charitable institutions. Her nomination for vice president in 1951 was blocked by the army. After her early death, she was pictured as a martyr who sacrificed herself for the welfare of the people. Her followers tried unsuccessfully to have her canonized, while her enemies, in an effort to exorcise her as a national symbol of Peronism, stole her body in 1955 and secreted it in Italy for 16 years.
Perón, Isabel (Martínez de), née María Estela Martínez Cartas (b. Feb. 4, 1931, La Rioja, Argentina), president of Argentina (1974-76). She acquired the name Isabel (her saint's name) on her Roman Catholic confirmation and adopted the name when she became a dancer. After meeting the exiled Juan Perón in Panama in 1955 she gave up her career in show business, became his personal secretary, and went with him to Madrid in 1960, where they were married in 1961. Perón finally returned to Argentina to run for president in 1973. Isabel was chosen as his vice presidential candidate on the suggestion of Perón's close adviser José López Rega. The ticket won the September election and they took office in October. (Though in the campaign her name had been given as Isabel Perón, she now used the name María Estela Martínez de Perón.) When her husband died in July 1974, she succeeded him as president. Inheriting problems of inflation, labour unrest, and political violence, she seemed incapable of taking decisive action. In November she imposed a state of siege as the country was on the brink of anarchy. In 1975 she took a month's leave to recuperate from nervous exhaustion. She refused calls for her resignation, although she pledged not to run for reelection. But as the economic and political situation continued to worsen, she was deposed by air force officers on March 24, 1976, and held under house arrest for the next five years. In 1981 she was convicted of corrupt practices, but she was paroled in the summer of that year and went into exile in Spain. Pardoned in late 1983, she submitted her resignation as head of the Peronist party from her home in Madrid in 1985. In January 2007 an Argentine judge issued an arrest warrant for her over the disappearance of a leftist activist in February 1976; she was briefly arrested by Spanish police but released pending a decision on her extradition.
Perón (Sosa), Juan (Domingo) (b. Oct. 8, 1895, Lobos, Buenos Aires province, Argentina - d. July 1, 1974, Buenos Aires), president of Argentina (1946-55, 1973-74). In 1943 he joined the Grupo de Oficiales Unidos, a clique of military plotters that engineered a coup against the government of Pres. Ramón S. Castillo. The following military regimes came increasingly under the domination of Perón, who in 1943 had taken only the post of minister of labour and social welfare but who was clearly bidding for undisputed power based on the support of the underprivileged labourers and control of the army. In 1944 he took the additional posts of minister of war and vice president. In early October 1945, he was ousted from his positions and detained, but after massive demonstrations by workers, he was released on October 17. He was elected president in February 1946 with 56% of the vote. Aided by his second wife Eva, he showered needed benefits upon industrial workers and financed public works on a large scale, basing his actions on a doctrine he called justicialismo. He severely restricted constitutional liberties. He was reelected in 1951, but in 1955 was overthrown in an army-navy revolt led by democratically inclined officers. He fled to Paraguay and later settled in Madrid, continuing to influence Argentine political life through his numerous followers. In 1964 he made an attempt to enter Argentina but his plane was turned back at Rio de Janeiro. In the elections of March 1973, the Peronist party was allowed to participate and its candidates were victorious; Perón was welcomed back to Argentina in June and in a special election in September he was elected president. He died in office and was succeeded by his third wife Isabel, who was vice president.
Perosevic, Bosko (b. Nov. 17, 1956, Odzaci, Vojvodina, Serbia - d. May 13, 2000, Novi Sad, Vojvodina), Yugoslav politician. A senior supporter of Pres. Slobodan Milosevic, he was head of the provincial government of Yugoslavia's northern Vojvodina province since 1993. He died after being shot in the head at close range by a lone gunman at an agriculture fair in Novi Sad, capital of Vojvodina. The shooting was the latest in a series of high-profile killings in the isolated country. The alleged attacker, Milivoje Gutovic, was arrested by police immediately afterwards. An eyewitness said an unidentified middle-aged man fired one round from a small caliber pistol at Perosevic's head: "Perosevic's mobile phone rang while he was touring stands at the fair. As he moved away from the group of officials he was with, a man in his 40s approached him, firing one shot at Perosevic's head." Several politically prominent figures had been shot dead in Serbia over the previous few months but none of the crimes had been solved. In late April 2000, the head of Yugoslavia's national airline, Zika Petrovic, was shot dead by unknown assassins in central Belgrade. Petrovic was a loyal ally of Milosevic. Earlier, Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic and the notorious paramilitary leader Arkan were also gunned down in Belgrade in two separate attacks. Belgrade blamed the shootings on Western governments, toward whom it had been hostile since NATO bombings forced Yugoslav troops and police to yield the rebellious province of Kosovo to international administration in 1999. The incidents coincided with an increasingly repressive approach to dissent by Milosevic since he and four top associates were indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal for alleged atrocities in the Kosovo conflict.
Perot, (Henry) Ross (b. June 27, 1930, Texarkana, Texas), U.S. presidential candidate (1992, 1996). In 1962 he founded Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS), which grew by processing medical claims for Blue Cross and other large insurance companies, and business boomed in the mid-1960s when national Medicare legislation dramatically increased the number of insurance claims processed by EDS. In the 1980s he received another godsend from the U.S. government in the form of "megacontracts," including the overhaul of computer systems at 47 army bases. In 1984 he sold the company to General Motors for $2.5 billion worth of special-issue stock. Early in 1992, he announced that he would run as an independent for U.S. president if the people wanted him; that is, if they could get his name on the ballot in all 50 states. He earned widespread popularity among voters dissatisfied with traditional party politics. He abruptly ended his campaign in July but relaunched it on October 1, with his name on all the ballots. He named James Stockdale as his vice presidential running mate, bought a series of 30-minute television advertisements - "infomercials" - and presented viewers with charts detailing economic and other problems and gave his solutions for correcting them. He won 19% of the popular vote in the November election, but no electoral college votes. After the election he organized United We Stand America, a nonpartisan political pressure group, and in September 1995 he established the Reform Party, which he hoped to build into a major political party. In July 1996 he announced his second presidential bid and in August received his party's nomination; he chose Pat Choate as his running mate. In the November election he received only 8% of the vote.
Péroz, (Marie) Étienne (b. Aug. 12, 1857 - d. 1910), commandant of Niger (1900-01).
Perreau-Pradier, Jean (François Pierre) (b. July 31, 1911, Auch, Gers, France - d. Aug. 18, 1981, Paris), prefect of Réunion (1956-63).
Perret Gentil Lz., Johan Hendrik (b. Aug. 5, 1889, Curaçao - d. June 8, 1950, Barranquilla, Colombia), administrator of Bonaire (1923-27).
Perrier, (Joseph Raoul) Yvon (d. May 12, 1999, Port-au-Prince, Haiti), foreign minister of Haiti (1989-90).
Perrin, Carlo (b. July 12, 1946, Torgnon, Valle d'Aosta, Italy), president of Valle d'Aosta (2003-05).
Perrinjaquet, Sylvie (b. Aug. 24, 1955), president of the Council of State of Neuchâtel (2004-05, 2006-07).
Perrinon, François Auguste (b. Aug. 28, 1812, Saint-Pierre, Martinique - d. Jan. 2, 1861, Saint-Martin island), governor of Martinique (1848).
Perron, Marshall (Bruce) (b. 1942, Perth, Western Australia), chief minister of the Northern Territory (1988-95). In 1995 he introduced a private member's bill, the Rights Of The Terminally Ill Act. After exhaustive debate and many amendments, it was proclaimed into law in 1996, the first of its kind anywhere in the world. Four Australians took the chance to die under the law before the federal parliament overturned the Northern Territory's right to legislate on the matter, annulling the act in 1997.
Perry, Sir Percival (Lea Dewhurst) (b. March 18, 1878, Bristol, England - d. June 17, 1956), tenant of Herm (1923-39).
Perry, Rick, byname of James Richard Perry (b. March 4, 1950, Paint Creek, Texas), governor of Texas (2000- ). In 1984 he was elected to the state House, as a Democrat. In 1989 he was passed over for a leadership position and switched to the Republican Party. In 1990 he ran for agriculture commissioner against Democratic incumbent Jim Hightower. Perry, with the help of Karl Rove, got the support of the Farm Bureau and won an upset victory even while Democrat Ann Richards was winning the governorship. In an increasingly Republican Texas, Perry was easily reelected in 1994. Then in 1998, when storied Democratic incumbent Bob Bullock retired, Perry ran for lieutenant governor. This is an important position in Texas; the lieutenant governor not only presides over the state Senate but controls its proceedings and appoints its committee members and chairmen. Governors and lieutenant governors are elected separately in Texas, and George W. Bush and Perry ran separate campaigns. Perry had no Republican primary opposition. Perry's 50%-48% victory over Democrat John Sharp opened the way to the governor's office for him. After Bush was elected president, Perry succeeded him as governor on Dec. 21, 2000. Democrats believed he was vulnerable in 2002 and Sharp tried to put together a winning ticket, himself running for lieutenant governor again. Businessman Tony Sanchez was persuaded to run for governor and won the Democratic primary 61%-33%. Perry ran a number of hard-hitting ads linking Sanchez to Mexican drug dealers. Sanchez was outraged, calling Perry "by far the most disgusting human being I have ever known." In the election, Perry beat Sanchez 58%-40%; Sanchez carried the Border 66%-33%, but Perry carried the much larger rural Texas 64%-34%. Perry was reelected over Democrats Chris Bell in 2006 and Bill White in 2010, becoming the longest-serving governor in Texas history. In August 2011 he joined the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination; he dropped his bid in January 2012.
Perry, Ruth (Sando), née Fahnbulleh (b. July 16, 1939, Grand Cape Mount, Liberia), chairwoman of the Council of State of Liberia (1996-97).
Perryman, Joseph M(oses) (b. 1833, Choska [now in Oklahoma] - d. Dec. 18, 1896, Eufaula [now in Oklahoma]), principal chief of the Muskogee Nation (1883-87). He enlisted in the Confederate army on Aug. 9, 1861. His political career began with his service as a member of the Muskogee House of Kings from 1868 to 1874 serving as its presiding officer during his tenure. He served as district clerk of the Eufaula district in 1878 and as clerk of the tribal supreme court in 1869. He was a member of the tribal supreme court in 1873. In 1883, he was dispatched as a delegate from the tribe to Washington and on Dec. 5, 1879, qualified as Muskogee national treasurer in which position he served for four years, being succeeded by Sam Brown. In the fall of 1883, he became the candidate of the Muskogee Party for Principal Chief, being opposed by Isparhecher of the Loyal Party and Samuel Checote of the Pin Party. The race settled down to a spirited contest between Perryman and Isparhecher although Checote gained enough votes to provoke an embarrassing situation. The Green Peach War, inspired and led by Isparhecher, had ended but a few months before the election, but lingered as an issue in the campaign. The result of the election held on Sept. 3, 1883, was very close and remained long in doubt. The dispute was referred to Secretary of the Interior Henry M. Teller, who in 1884 directed the Indian agent to recognize Perryman as chief of the tribe. Perryman served his people most faithfully as their chief for a four years' term and became a rather inactive candidate for reelection in 1887, when he was defeated by his cousin, Legus C. Perryman. Isparhecher was again a candidate but made a meagre showing. Perryman was president of the Muskogee National Board of Education in 1894.
Perryman, Legus C(houteau) (b. March 1, 1838, Sodom, Indian Territory [now in Oklahoma] - d. Feb. 5, 1922, Tulsa, Okla.), principal chief of the Muskogee Nation (1887-95). When the Civil War came, he enlisted in the Confederate army on Aug. 9, 1861, but subsequently renounced this enlistment, and on Dec. 7, 1862, at Burlington, Kansas, enlisted in the Union army, being honourably discharged on May 31, 1865. He served as judge of the Coweta district in 1868-74 and in 1875 served briefly as prosecuting attorney for that district. He was admitted to practice law before the Muskogee Nation courts on Oct. 22, 1878, and in 1882 and 1885 was sent as a delegate to Washington during which period he became active in composing the troubles created by Isparhecher. On Sept. 6, 1887, Perryman was elected Principal Chief, defeating his cousin, Joseph M. Perryman. He was easily reelected in 1891. During his tenure the U.S. government began to evidence its purpose to close up the political life of the Five Tribes in the Indian Territory. After an investigation made by the secretary of the interior, it became manifest to the authorities at Washington that an improvident employment of tribal monies was being made. Perryman being chief at the time of the investigation, the onus of all past as well as present delinquencies fell upon him. The Muskogee national council, after a hearing, impeached and removed the chief and the national treasurer from office on June 8, 1895. This impeachment carried with it his denial of all future political rights but these were restored by action of the council on Dec. 21, 1898. But he became rather inactive in political affairs, although he did make a gesture as a candidate for Principal Chief in 1899 when Pleasant Porter was elected.
Persad-Bissessar, Kamla (Bissessar is husband's name) (b. April 22, 1952, Siparia, Trinidad and Tobago), prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago (2010- ).
Persons, Seth Gordon (b. Feb. 5, 1902, Montgomery, Ala. - d. May 29, 1965, Montgomery), governor of Alabama (1951-55). He was defeated by James "Big Jim" Folsom in the 1946 gubernatorial race but in 1950 Persons was elected over Chauncey Sparks. During his administration, legislation was passed that reformed the welfare system and the pardon-parole system and increased funding for education and roads. The Educational Television Commission was established which made Alabama a pioneer in the area of public broadcasting in the 1950s. He also made a public display of burning the straps used by prisons to inflict corporal punishment and he backed the Highway Patrol's campaign against careless drivers. While many of his programs had a humanitarian slant, some did not. He signed a Right-to-Work bill that severely limited the ability of unions to organize in Alabama. Although he supported and signed a bill that eliminated the cumulative feature of the poll tax, most of Persons' legislation did nothing to secure civil rights for Alabama's citizens. He supported a bill, known as the "Little Boswell Amendment," that established voting qualifications designed to disenfranchise blacks. He also signed a bill that prohibited Communists from holding public office and required them to register their party affiliation. In 1954 Attorney General-elect Albert Patterson was murdered while attempting to clean-up the vice and corruption that prevailed in Phenix City. This incident caused Persons to place Phenix City and Russell County under martial law. Also in 1954 the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in public schools, but this ruling affected the second administration of Folsom more than Persons. He ran unsuccessfully for probate judge of Montgomery County in 1958.
Persson, Carl (b. Dec. 14, 1919), president of the International Criminal Police Organization (1976-80).
Persson, (Hans) Göran (b. Jan. 20, 1949, Vingåker, Södermanland, Sweden), prime minister of Sweden (1996-2006). At 17, he was chairman of the Vingåker Young Social Democrats. He was a member of the board of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League in 1972-75. At 26, he became Social Democratic Party chairman in the sleepy middle-class town of Katrineholm. He was elected to the Swedish parliament in 1979, but in 1985 returned to Katrineholm to head the local council. Known for his stubborn streak, he bulldozed popular opinion as well as most of the historic town centre in a controversial redevelopment plan in the mid-1980s. Named minister of schools in 1989, he made his mark by closing down Sweden's bureaucratic Schools Governing Board and replacing it with a slimmer Schools Authority. During the non-socialist interregnum of 1991-94, he was vice chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance. After the Social Democratic election victory of 1994 he became finance minister and unashamedly led a monetarist policy, quickly winning favour from the financial markets if not from party rank and file. He found himself the unrivalled candidate to succeed retiring Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson after Deputy Prime Minister Mona Sahlin resigned in November 1995 amid a credit card scandal. He became prime minister in March 1996, heading a minority government. His popularity hit rock bottom after a trip to Beijing in November 1996 when some comments to Chinese Pres. Jiang Zemin were interpreted as praising China's political stability and condoning China's human rights record; he survived a rare vote of confidence in parliament over the affair. He advocated adoption of the euro, but voters rejected it in a 2003 referendum. In the 2006 elections his government was defeated by a centre-right coalition.
Pertini, Sandro, byname of Alessandro Pertini (b. Sept. 25, 1896, Stella San Giovanni, near Savona, Italy - d. Feb. 24, 1990, Rome, Italy), president of Italy (1978-85). He served as a machine gunner in World War I and became a founding member of the Socialist Party in 1918. He was sentenced to prison six times by different military tribunals, the first time in 1925 when he was arrested for distributing anti-Fascist literature in his native village. He played an important part in helping to smuggle Socialist Party leader Filippo Turati out of the country in 1927 and followed Turati into exile in France. Returning to Italy, he went underground but was betrayed by an informer and sentenced in 1929 to ten years in prison and three years of internal exile. Freed by the Allies in 1943, he was rearrested by the German SS and sentenced to death, but he escaped and joined the underground. After World War II he was elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1946, and in 1953 entered the Chamber of Deputies, of which he was chairman in 1968-76. He hoped to win the presidency in 1971, but lost to the Christian Democrat Giovanni Leone. In June 1978 Leone resigned after allegations of financial wrongdoing. On July 8, after 15 fruitless ballots, the Christian Democrats and Communists in parliament compromised on the 81-year-old Pertini as Leone's successor. He then received 83.6% of the votes of the electoral college, a larger majority than any of his predecessors. He continued to live in his apartment at the Trevi Fountain in central Rome because his wife did not want to move to the Quirinal Palace. Pertini, highly popular and regarded as incorruptible, worked with people across the political spectrum to restore public faith in government. When his seven-year term expired, he automatically became a life senator.
Perttilä, (Matti) Valfrid (b. Sept. 23, 1878, Isokyrö [now in Länsi-Suomi province], Finland - d. April 11, 1953, U.S.S.R.), chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Finnish Socialist Conciliar Republic (1918).
Perugini, Pasquale (b. July 5, 1926, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy), president of Calabria (1975-76).
Perumal, (Annamalai) Varatharaja, chief minister of North Eastern province, Sri Lanka (1988-90). He fled to Ajmer (Rajasthan, India) on March 10, 1990, after declaring unilateral independence on March 1, trying to set up a separate Eelam state. He returned to Sri Lanka in early 1999.
Pesenti, Gustavo (b. Jan. 15, 1878, Castel San Giovanni, Emilia-Romagna, Italy - d. Jan. 18, 1960, Genoa, Italy), acting governor of Italian Somalia (1940).
Pesenti, Patrizia (b. Dec. 13, 1958, Locarno, Ticino, Switzerland), president of the government of Ticino (2002-03, 2007-08).
Pesic, Dragisa (b. Aug. 8, 1954, Danilovgrad, Montenegro), finance minister (1998-2001) and prime minister (2001-03) of Yugoslavia.
Pesquera (Morales), Carlos I(gnacio) (b. 1956), Puerto Rican gubernatorial candidate (2000).
Pessoa, Domingos Teotônio Jorge Martins (d. [hanged] July 10, 1817, Recife, Brazil), member of the Provisional Government (1817) and civil and military governor (1817) of Pernambuco.
Pestana, José Ferreira (b. March 26, 1795 - d. June 12, 1885), governor-general of Portuguese India (1844-51, 1864-70).
Pétain, (Henri) Philippe (Bénoni Omer Joseph) (b. April 24, 1856, Cauchy-à-la-Tour, France - d. July 23, 1951, Port-Joinville, Île d'Yeu, France), French head of state (1940-44). At the outbreak of World War I he was a colonel and near retirement, but he advanced rapidly in rank, being a full general by mid-1915. In 1916 he was charged with defending the fortress city of Verdun. The situation was practically hopeless, but he managed to foil the German attack; he became a popular hero and in 1918 was made a marshal of France. In 1925-26 he defeated the Rif rebellion in Morocco. He was minister of war in 1934 and ambassador to Spain in 1939-40. Following the German attack of May 1940 in World War II, he was named vice premier, and in June, at age 84, he was asked to form a new ministry. Believing that further resistance was useless, he asked for an armistice. After it was concluded, the National Assembly, meeting in Vichy, granted him emergency powers as "chief of state." Two-thirds of the country (the north and the Atlantic coastline) were under German military occupation; only the remainder was effectively under his administration, based in Vichy. He set up a paternalistic regime under the motto "Work, Family, Fatherland," and cooperated with the Germans, although not to the extent advocated by his vice premier, Pierre Laval. He dismissed Laval in December 1940 but was forced by the Germans to take him back in 1942. In August 1944, after the liberation of Paris, the Germans transferred Pétain from Vichy to Belfort and thence, in September, to Sigmaringen in Germany. Returning to France in April 1945, he was condemned to death in August, his sentence being immediately commuted to solitary confinement for life. He spent his last years in a fortress on the Île d'Yeu off the Atlantic coast.
Petar II, in full Petar Karadjordjevic (b. Sept. 6, 1923, Belgrade, Yugoslavia [now in Serbia] - d. Nov. 3, 1970, Los Angeles, Calif.), king of Yugoslavia (1934-45). When his father, King Aleksandar I, was assassinated during a visit to France, Petar became king at 11, a regency being established under his uncle Prince Pavle. On March 27, 1941, Pavle was deposed by a military coup, led by Gen. Dusan Simovic, directed against the pro-Axis policy of the government. Petar then ruled for a few weeks until Axis troops invaded and defeated the Yugoslav army in April. He fled to London, where he established a government-in-exile. On March 20, 1944, he married Princess Alexandra of Greece; a son, Aleksandar, was born in London on July 17, 1945. His regime having become closely associated with the Chetnik resistance forces led by Gen. Draza Mihailovic, the victory of Tito's Partisans deprived him of the support he needed to return to power after the war, and the Yugoslav monarchy was abolished in November 1945. He then moved to the United States and never returned to his homeland.
Petar II Petrovic-Njegos (b. Nov. 13 [Nov. 1, Old Style], 1813, Njegusi, Montenegro - d. Oct. 31 [Oct. 19, O.S.], 1851, Cetinje, Montenegro), vladika (prince-bishop) of Montenegro (1830-51). On succeeding his uncle Petar I, he took the title of Petar II rather than his own Christian name of Rado. In the tradition of theocratic Montenegro, he was consecrated bishop in 1833 (the practice was discontinued by his successor). He was renowned as an enlightened ruler, as a warrior, but not least as a poet, his three principal works being "The Ray of the Microcosm," "The False Tsar Stephen the Small," and "The Mountain Garland." He was strong enough to transfer much of the power of the local chieftains to a senate of 12 leading chiefs, meeting at Cetinje under his eye. Still more important was his abolition of the office of civil governor, long hereditary in the Radonic family and an obstacle to unity. He had a yearly subsidy from the Russian emperor Nikolay I and used it to start schools and to set up a printing press at Cetinje. His rule was marked by the usual epic conflicts with the Turks, and he even had some success in limiting the inter-clan feuds of his people.
Petar II P.-N.
Peter, secular name Cyril Arihara (b. 19... - d. May 10, 2000), metropolitan of the Orthodox Church of Japan (2000). Prior to his enthronement, he resigned for reasons of health and died shortly thereafter.
Peterle, Lojze, byname of Alojz Peterle (b. July 5, 1948, Ljubljana, Slovenia), prime minister (1990-92) and foreign minister (1993-94, 2000) of Slovenia.
Peters, (Elizabeth) Dipuo (b. May 13, 1960), premier of Northern Cape (2004-09).
Peters, Leonard Antoon Hubert (b. July 8, 1900, Well, Limburg, Netherlands - d. April 5, 1984, Bergen op Zoom, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands), governor of the Netherlands Antilles (1948-51).
Peters, Mary (Elizabeth), née Ruth (b. Dec. 4, 1948, Phoenix, Ariz.), U.S. transportation secretary (2006-09). In 2001-05 she was administrator of the Federal Highway Administration.
Peters, Winston (Raymond) (b. April 11, 1945, Whangarei, New Zealand), deputy prime minister (1996-98) and foreign minister (2005-08) of New Zealand. As a member of the National Party, he entered parliament for the first time in 1978, sat on the opposition front bench in 1987-90, then was appointed minister of Maori affairs in 1990. He set up the New Zealand First Party in 1993 and has led the party since then. In August 2008 he stood aside as foreign minister when the Serious Fraud Office investigated fraud allegations connected to political donations made to his party. While cleared by police and fraud officials of any wrongdoing, he was censured in September for misleading parliament and did not return to office. In the elections in November his party lost all representation by finishing below the 5% threshold and failing to win any electorate seat.
Petersen, Jan (b. June 11, 1946, Oslo, Norway), foreign minister of Norway (2001-05).
Petersen, Marita (Sámalsdóttir) (b. Oct. 21, 1940, Vágur, Suduroy island, Faeroe Islands - d. Aug. 26, 2001), prime minister of the Faeroe Islands (1993-94).
Petersen, Niels (Lolk) Helveg (b. Jan. 17, 1939, Odense, Denmark), foreign minister of Denmark (1993-2000).
Peterson, Bart(on R.) (b. June 15, 1958, Indianapolis, Ind.), mayor of Indianapolis (2000-08).
Peterson, David (Robert) (b. Dec. 29, 1943, Toronto, Ont.), premier of Ontario (1985-90). In 1975 he was elected to the Ontario legislature, where he was made Liberal Party finance critic. Running on a reform platform, he was elected leader of the Ontario Liberal Party in February 1982. He proved his reputation for organizing and fund-raising skills when he succeeded in raising $350,000 toward the party's debt in only three months. In 1985 he ran a methodical and carefully planned campaign. Following the May 2 election, the Progressive Conservative Party held a tenuous four-seat plurality in the legislature. The Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party (NDP) then joined forces to topple the minority government of Premier Frank Miller and, with the support of the NDP, Peterson formed a government, becoming the first Liberal premier of Ontario since 1943. He vowed to conduct an open and accessible government and sealed this promise by becoming the first premier of Ontario to take the oath of office in a public, outdoor ceremony. The 1987 election was a Liberal landslide. But Peterson made a big mistake on July 30, 1990, when he called another election without a pressing reason. At first the Liberals seemed headed for a huge win, but they began to slide in popularity, and in the September 6 election the NDP scored a decisive victory. Voter disgust with an election being called two years early, growing skepticism about the government's integrity, and Peterson's participation in the behind-closed-doors constitutional fiasco known as Meech Lake worked against the Liberals. Peterson, who lost his own London Centre seat, then resigned as Liberal leader.
Peterson, Walter R(utherford) (b. Sept. 19, 1922, Nashua, N.H. - d. June 1, 2011, Peterborough, N.H.), governor of New Hampshire (1969-73).
Pétillon, Léon (Antoine Marie) (b. May 22, 1903, Esneux, Liège province, Belgium - d. April 1, 1996, Elsene, Brussels-Capital region, Belgium), governor of Ruanda-Urundi (1949-52) and governor-general of Belgian Congo (1952-58).
Pétion, (Anne) Alexandre Sabès, dit (b. April 2, 1770, Port-au-Prince, Haiti - d. March 29, 1818, Port-au-Prince), president of Haiti (1807-18). The son of a French colonist and a mulatto, he served in the French colonial army before the French Revolution and then joined the revolutionary troops of Toussaint-Louverture. Later, however, he joined the forces of the mulatto general André Rigaud in resisting the extension of Toussaint's full authority to the mulatto-dominated south. Fleeing to France after Toussaint defeated Rigaud in 1800, Pétion returned in 1802 with the French expeditionary force sent to reconquer the colony, but when after the defeat of Toussaint it became evident that Napoléon Bonaparte intended to reimpose slavery, he became one of the first Haitian officers to revolt against France. He joined Jean-Jacques Dessalines and other black commanders in driving the French out; independence was declared Jan. 1, 1804. In 1806 he was a leader in the revolt against Dessalines. After the latter's death, Haiti was split, with Henry Christophe leading a northern "black" state and Pétion being elected president of a southern "mulatto" republic in 1807. He was reelected in 1811 and made president for life in 1816. Unlike the despotic Christophe he ruled benignly, one of his most popular measures being the division of the large plantations into small lots, giving one to each of his soldiers. But freed from the burden of producing a surplus for the plantation owners, the people produced only enough for their own needs, leading to economic slowdown and galloping inflation. Pétion is also remembered for his support of Simón Bolívar during the South American struggle for independence from Spain.
Petisné, (Jean) Gabriel (b. June 14, 1881, Bordeaux, France - d. Dec. 4, 1931, Bordeaux), general commissioner of the Memel Territory (1921-23).
Petit, Édouard (Georges Théophile) (b. March 15, 1856 - d. [while returning to France] March 1904), governor of the French Settlements in Oceania (1901-04).
Petit, Raphaël (Romain Hubert) (b. Sept. 9, 1916, Fort-de-France, Martinique - d. Aug. 28, 2010), prefect of Martinique (1963-66).
Petitbon, René (Jean Albert) (b. Aug. 18, 1902, Pau, Basses-Pyrénées [now Pyrénées-Atlantiques], France - d. 19...), governor of the French Settlements in Oceania (1950-54) and of French Somaliland (1954-57).
Petitpierre, Max (b. Feb. 26, 1899 - d. March 25, 1994, Neuchâtel, Switzerland), foreign minister (1945-61) and president (1950, 1955, 1960) of Switzerland.
Petkanov, Georgi (Petrov) (b. Nov. 1, 1947, Smolyan, Bulgaria), interior minister (2001-05) and justice minister (2005-07) of Bulgaria.
Petkovski, Tito (b. Jan. 23, 1945, Psaca village, Rankovce municipality, Macedonia), Macedonian politician. He was speaker of parliament (1996-98) and the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (1999). In November 2005 he left the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia and created the New Social Democratic Party.
Petritsch, Wolfgang (b. Aug. 26, 1947, Klagenfurt, Austria), international high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (1999-2002).
Petronia, Ernesto O(tilio) (b. Dec. 14, 1916, Curaçao), prime minister of the Netherlands Antilles (1969-71). He was the first black in that position.
Petros VII, civil name Petros Papapetrou (b. Sept. 3, 1949, Sigchari village, Cyprus - d. Sept. 11, 2004, Aegean Sea, off northern Greece), Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria (1997-2004). He was one of 17 people killed when their helicopter, on a flight from Athens to a monastery in Mount Athos, crashed into the sea.
Petrovsky, Grigory (Ivanovich), Ukrainian Hryhoriy (Ivanovych) Petrovsky (b. Feb. 4 [Jan. 23, Old Style], 1878, Kharkov province, Russia - d. Jan. 9, 1958, Moscow, Russian S.F.S.R.), chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Ukrainian S.S.R. (1919-38) and co-chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the U.S.S.R. (1922-38).
Petrushkin, Nikolay (Vladimirovich) (b. Oct. 15, 1954, Pilesevo village, Atyashevsky rayon, Mordovian A.S.S.R., Russian S.F.S.R.), acting prime minister of Mordovia (2012).
Pettigrew, Pierre (Stewart) (b. April 18, 1951, Québec, Quebec), foreign minister of Canada (2004-06).
Pettigrew, Samuel (d. April 12, 1841, Pittsburgh, Pa.), mayor of Pittsburgh (1832-36).
Peuvergne, Jean Jules Émile (b. Aug. 10, 1849, Pamiers, Ariège, France - d. 19...), governor of Senegal (1908, 1909-11), Dahomey (1908-09), Guadeloupe (1911-13), and French Guinea (1913-15).
Peynado (Garrigosa), Jacinto (Bienvenido Daniel) (b. March 9, 1941, Ciudad Trujillo [now Santo Domingo], Dominican Republic - d. Aug. 8, 2004, Miami, Fla.), vice president (1994-96), presidential candidate (1996), and vice presidential candidate (2000) of the Dominican Republic; grandson of Jacinto Bienvenido Peynado.
Peynado (y Peynado), Jacinto Bienvenido (b. Feb. 15, 1878, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - d. March 7, 1940, Ciudad Trujillo [now Santo Domingo]), vice president (1934-38) and president (1938-40) of the Dominican Republic.
Peyrouton, (Bernard) Marcel (b. July 2, 1887, Paris, France - d. Nov. 6, 1983, Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, France), resident-general of Tunisia (1933-36, 1940) and Morocco (1936), interior minister of France (1940-41), and governor-general of Algeria (1943).
Pezet (y Rodríguez Piedra), Juan Antonio (b. 1809, Lima, Peru - d. March 29, 1879, Lima), prime minister (1861-63) and acting president (1863-65) of Peru.
Pezuela y Sánchez, Ignacio de la (d. Nov. 16, 1850, Madrid, Spain), acting first secretary of state of Spain ("Resistance" government) (1812).
Pfannkuch, Wilhelm (b. Nov. 28, 1841, Kassel, Hesse [Germany] - d. Sept. 14, 1923, Berlin, Germany), president of the German Constituent Assembly (1919).
Pflimlin, Pierre (Eugène Jean) (b. Feb. 5, 1907, Roubaix, France - d. June 27, 2000, Strasbourg, France), French politician. His political career spanned four decades, and he believed strongly in a unified Europe. He was Strasbourg's centrist mayor from 1959 to 1983, was active in regional politics, and was elected in the Bas-Rhin département to the French National Assembly from 1946 to 1971. He became European Council president in 1955, and went on to become finance minister and cooperation minister and was briefly prime minister in 1958. A member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1989, he was vice president of the assembly until 1984 before becoming president until 1987.
Pfyffer von Heydegg, Josef Ignaz Franz Xaver (b. 1724 - d. Dec. 26, 1796), Schultheiss of Luzern (1782, 1783-84, 1785-86, 1787-88, 1789-90, 1791-92, 1793-94, 1795-96).
Phaholphonphayuhasena, Phraya (b. March 29, 1887, Bangkok, Siam [now Thailand] - d. Feb. 14, 1947), prime minister of Siam (1933-38).
Pham Binh Minh (b. March 26, 1959), foreign minister of Vietnam (2011- ).
Pham Binh Minh
Pham Gia Khiem
Pham Gia Khiem (b. Aug. 6, 1944, Hanoi, Vietnam), foreign minister of Vietnam (2006-11). He was also a deputy prime minister in 1997-2011.
Pham Hung, original name Pham Van Thien (b. June 11, 1912, Chau Thanh district, Vinh Long province, Vietnam - d. March 10, 1988, southern Vietnam), prime minister of Vietnam (1987-88). At the age of 16, he declared himself a radical, his activities eventually leading to his expulsion from secondary school. Soon after, he joined the Revolutionary Youth League and in 1930 helped form Ho Chi Minh's Indochinese Communist Party. The following year, after leading a riot that killed a French colonial official, he was arrested by the French authorities and sentenced to death. After the penalty was commuted to life imprisonment, he spent the next 14 years in hard labour at Poulo Condore on the prison island of Con Son. He was freed when Communist forces gained control of northern Vietnam in 1945. For the next nine years, during the war against the French, he held key posts in the Communist Party in southern Vietnam. After the French defeat in 1954 and the subsequent legal division of the country, he entered the Politburo in North Vietnam, the first southern Vietnamese to be elevated to this level. In 1958 he became vice premier of North Vietnam. As chairman of the Central Office of South Vietnam from 1967, he directed Viet Cong guerilla warfare and was a key strategist in the pivotal 1968 Tet offensive and in the so-called Ho Chi Minh campaign that finally seized South Vietnam in 1975. In 1976 he was named a deputy prime minister in the first unified government. He served as interior minister and commander of the internal security force (1980-87) until he was chosen prime minister. He died in office after nine months.
Pham Van Dong (b. March 1, 1906, Duc Tan commune, Quang Ngai province, Annam [now in Vietnam] - d. April 29, 2000, Hanoi, Vietnam), Vietnamese politician. In 1925, he joined a student strike in Hanoi and fled to China when it failed. There he joined Ho Chi Minh's Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association, which trained young nationalists in Marxism. He returned to Vietnam in 1929 and began organizing Communist cells, but was quickly arrested by the French and sent to the infamous island jail at Con Son. Upon release (1936) he resumed underground activities in Hanoi. After a failed 1939 Communist uprising, he fled again to China and linked up with Ho, who had established a temporary base there. He spent the next few years recruiting revolutionaries in rural northern Vietnam, occasionally crossing into China. In 1941 he was one of the founders of the Viet Minh movement. He played a leading role in the war against the French in the early 1950s, attended the Geneva Conference in 1954, and became prime minister of North Vietnam in 1955. In 1976 he became premier of unified Vietnam. He resigned from the party politburo in 1986 and was replaced as prime minister in 1987. While Ho was the visionary and father figure, and Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap was the battlefield hero, he was the diplomat and government organizer. During the long war with the South, he was the North's main spokesman to the world. While Ho and party chief Le Duan remained in the background, he met with the few foreign journalists and American anti-war activists who came to Hanoi, and stressed his government's determination to keep fighting despite punishing U.S. airstrikes. He kept a semi-official post as a government adviser until December 1997 and used occasional speeches and essays to warn of the dangers of free-market economic reforms.
Pham Van Dong
Phan Huy Quat (b. 1908 - d. 1979, Chi Hoa prison, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), acting prime minister of South Vietnam (1954).
Phan Van Khai (b. Dec. 25, 1933, Tan Thong Hoi village, Cu Chi district, west of Saigon [now Ho Chi Minh City], Cochinchina [now in Vietnam]), prime minister of Vietnam (1997-2006). He earned his socialist credentials first with the National Salvation Youth organization and then during five years of study in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. He served in a range of positions in the south of the country after the Vietnam War ended in 1975, becoming head of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee in 1985. A year earlier he had become a full member of the Communist Party's Central Committee and during the sixth party congress in 1986 - at the launch of a reform programme which was to transform the command economy - he was reelected to both posts. In 1989 he was appointed head of the State Planning Committee, responsible for investment and economic policy, and was an ardent advocate of foreign investment ever since. He became a member of the Politburo at the seventh party congress in 1991 and became deputy prime minister in charge of national economic development the same year. He was credited with many of the policies which have lifted living standards off the floor and reformed the cumbersome administration. In the run-up to the 1996 congress he was already considered a front-runner to succeed fellow southerner Vo Van Kiet, of whom he was considered a protégé, as prime minister. However, his aspirations to the leadership were dogged at that time by damaging gossip about the business activities of family members. Analysts pointed to a speech he made in July 1997 pledging not to engage in corruption as evidence that those problems were now behind him. He was appointed prime minister in September 1997. He continued the doi moi (renewal) market reforms that brought rapid economic growth. In 2005 he became Vietnam's first postwar premier to visit Washington.
Phan Van Khai
Phan Wannamethee (b. Jan. 30, 1923), secretary-general of ASEAN (1984-86).
Pharaon, Henri (Philippe) (b. 1898, Alexandria, Egypt - d. Aug. 6, 1993, Beirut, Lebanon), Lebanese politician. He was a founding father of independent Lebanon and the designer of its red, white, and cedar-tree national flag. He entered the parliament when Lebanon gained independence from France (1943-46) and served as foreign minister (1945, 1946-47). Although he had been opposed to French rule, he was a Westerner at heart, founding the pro-European, non-Arab Mediterranean Party in 1949 when the Lebanese were fiercely debating their national identity - Western or Arab - in a contest which would, less than three decades later, detonate Lebanon's 15-year civil war. A champion of peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims, Pharaon (himself a Greek Catholic) sought to mediate between the country's pro-Western and pro-Arab factions in the late 1950s, but when he was not appointed to the compromise cabinet, he gradually withdrew from politics. For 30 years, he ran Beirut's port authority. Aged over 90, he was found stabbed to death in his bed at the hotel where he had been living; his driver and bodyguard was also killed. A former driver-bodyguard was subsequently arrested for the murders; police said robbery may have been the motive. Pharaon also had an international reputation as a collector of art and antiquities and owner of the world's biggest racing stable of Arabian horses.
Phatudi, Cedric (Makepeace Namedi) (b. May 27, 1912 - d. Oct. 7, 1987), chief minister of Lebowa (1973-87).
Phaya Khammao, Prince (b. Sept. 23, 1911, Luang Prabang, Laos - d. Oct. 13, 1984, Bangkok, Thailand), chairman of the Provisional Government of Laos (1945-46).
Phelps, Phelps, original name Phelps von Rottenburg (b. May 4, 1897, Bonn, Germany - d. June 10, 1981, Wildwood, N.J.), governor of American Samoa (1951-52). He was U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic in 1952-53.
Phelps, Willard (Leroy) (b. Oct. 23, 1941, Vancouver, B.C.), Canadian politician. He was first elected to the Yukon assembly in 1974, serving as deputy speaker and chair of the committee of the whole. But he was forced to resign his seat over a conflict-of-interest scandal involving a downtown Whitehorse property he owned. The former land claims negotiator was elected leader of the then-ruling Yukon Progressive Conservative Party in March 1985. But he lost the government to New Democrat Tony Penikett after calling a snap election two months later. He served as opposition leader until 1991. In announcing his resignation as leader, Phelps said he was stepping away from politics. But he entered the 1992 election at the last minute as an independent candidate in Ross River Southern Lakes. He later supported John Ostashek's Yukon Party minority government and, in return, was handed responsibility for Health and Social Services, Justice, the Yukon Energy Corp. and Yukon Development Corp. About two years into the mandate, Phelps was shuffled into Education but retained the Health and Social Service portfolio. He resigned both portfolios in 1996 after a former friend publicized details of a brief drunken argument Phelps had in a Carcross bar about two weeks earlier. According to notes penned by Bill Hensley, chair of the Carcross Area Advisory Planning Committee, Phelps called the Carcross-Tagish chief a liar, and maligned many members of the committee. He also threatened to vote against any government money earmarked for the community. Though Phelps apologized for the remarks in the legislature, Ostashek called his gaffe a serious matter, and was considering ejecting Phelps from cabinet. But Phelps offered his resignation first, and Ostashek accepted it reluctantly but without argument.
Pheng Phongsavan (b. July 9, 1910, Pakham village, Laos - d. 1979, Camp 01, near Sop Hao, Houaphan province, Laos), interior minister (1962-63, 1974-75) and foreign minister (1964-65) of Laos.
Phesao, Vamuzo (b. 1938 - d. March 22, 2000, Kohima, Nagaland, India), chief minister of Nagaland (1990-92). He joined the underground Naga movement in 1956, but returned to the mainstream in the early '60s. As a member of the seven-man Naga Public Conference Committee, he mediated between the centre and the underground leadership in 1968 in a bid to solve the Naga problem. Phesao was first elected to the Nagaland assembly on a United Democratic Front ticket the following year. After serving as a key member of the opposition till 1974, the former underground activist was away from the limelight for a brief period. However, he was reelected to the assembly in 1977. Phesao won the next three elections as well - in 1982, 1987, and 1993. The Naga leader's finest moment in politics was becoming chief minister in 1990. During the two years he was at the helm of affairs, he launched the Compact Area Development Scheme and the Village Development Board for the welfare of the state's predominantly rural population. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the regional political movement, he formed the United Forum of Regional Parties of the Northeast. He also served as advisor to the Nagaland People's Council until his death.
Phetsarath (Ratanavongsa), Prince (b. Jan. 19, 1890, Luang Phra Bang - d. Oct. 15, 1959, Luang Prabang, Laos), prime minister of Luang Phra Bang (1941-45); nephew of Sisavang Vong. He was in exile in Thailand from 1946 to 1957.
Philip, Danny (b. 1951), foreign minister (1995-96, 2000-01) and prime minister (2010-11) of the Solomon Islands.
Philip, Kjeld (Løwenstein) (b. April 3, 1912, Copenhagen, Denmark - d. Oct. 27, 1989, Hørsholm, Denmark), finance minister of Denmark (1960-61).
Philippe (Léopold Louis Marie), duc de Brabant (b. April 15, 1960, Brussels, Belgium), Belgian crown prince. The first of three children of Albert II (king from 1993) and Queen Paola, he received his early education in both Dutch and French, then attended the Royal Military Academy, being trained as a pilot and paratrooper. He studied abroad at Trinity College, Oxford (U.K.), and at Stanford University (U.S.), where he took a master's degree in political science in 1985. It had been expected that Albert would renounce his right to the throne in favour of Philippe, but upon the death of King Baudouin in 1993, Albert elected to take the throne. Philippe was instead appointed honorary chairman of the Belgian Foreign Trade Board (from 2003 the Foreign Trade Agency), and in that capacity he headed numerous economic missions abroad. From 1993 he also served as chairman of the National (later Federal) Council for Sustainable Development. In June 1994 he became a member of the Senate. On Dec. 4, 1999, he married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz (b. Jan. 20, 1973, Uccle). He had kept the relationship private until their engagement was announced in September 1999. In three months' time, she went from a life of relative anonymity to becoming one of Belgium's most popular public figures; many compared this wedding to the 1981 union of Britain's Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer. Mathilde would become the first Belgian-born queen in the country's history. Their first child, Elisabeth (b. Oct. 25, 2001, Brussels), could become the first reigning queen of Belgium, a 1991 law having granted equal inheritance rights to male and female royals. Two sons were born later, Gabriel (b. Aug. 20, 2003) and Emmanuel (b. Oct. 4, 2005).
Philippi Izquierdo, Julio (b. Dec. 26, 1912 - d. March 30, 1997), justice minister (1958-60) and foreign minister (1963-64) of Chile.
Philipson, Gilbert (Eugène Félicien Marie) (b. 1908 - d. 1983), prefect of Guadeloupe (1947-50).
Phillips, Douglas George (b. Dec. 4, 1946, Toronto, Ont.), commissioner of Yukon (2010- ).
Phillips, Sir Fred(erick Albert) (b. May 14, 1918 - d. Feb. 20, 2011, Hodges Bay, Antigua), administrator (1966-67) and governor (1967-69) of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla; knighted 1967.
Pho Proeung (b. Aug. 12, 1903, Phnom Penh, Cambodia - d. 19...), prime minister of Cambodia (1960-61). He was also national education minister (1954-55, 1958), interior minister (1955, 1958-59, 1960-61), labour minister (1958), and ambassador to France (1963-64).
Pholien, (Clovis Louis Marie Emmanuel) Joseph (b. Dec. 28, 1884, Liège, Belgium - d. Jan. 4, 1968, Brussels, Belgium), prime minister of Belgium (1950-52). He enlisted in 1914 in the Belgian army as a volunteer, and was demobilized as a first lieutenant. He entered politics in 1936 when as a right-wing Social Christian he was elected to the Senate. He was minister of justice in the Paul-Henri Spaak coalition cabinet (1938-39). At 56, he rejoined the army in 1940. During the second German occupation he remained in Belgium and was thrice arrested for protesting against German interference in Belgian administration. With Albert Devèze, minister of state, and Raoul Hayoit de Termicourt, attorney general at the Supreme Court of Appeal, he signed on June 1, 1940, a legal pronouncement declaring that King Leopold III was a prisoner of war and as such unable to reign - a document which gave legal basis to the Belgian government in exile. From 1945 he strongly supported the king's unconditional return. The settlement reached on the royal question aroused considerable opposition inside the Social Christian Party and Pholien led the Leopoldists accusing Jean Duvieusart, the prime minister, and some of his colleagues of lack of courage and energy. After the resignation of Duvieusart, Pholien headed on Aug. 15, 1950, a new Social Christian government. Soon after, however, the king abdicated, due to vehement opposition in the country, mainly from socialists. After his term as premier, Pholien continued as a senator until 1961.
Phosa, (Nakedi) Mathews (b. Sept. 1, 1952, Mbombela township, Nelspruit, Transvaal [now in Mpumalanga], South Africa), premier of Mpumalanga (1994-99).
Phoui Sananikone (b. Sept. 6, 1903, Laos - d. Dec. 4, 1983, Paris, France), prime minister of Laos (1950-51, 1958-59).
Phoumi Nosavan (b. Jan. 7, 1920, Savannakhet, Laos - d. Nov. 3, 1985, Bangkok, Thailand), Laotian politician; nephew of Sarit Thanarat. In 1945 he joined the forces of Prince Souphanouvong in the struggle to expel the French. He became chief of staff, but when Souphanouvong began to deal more closely with the Communist North Vietnamese, Nosavan left his service (1949) and entered the Royal Lao Army, becoming its inspector general. Later he moved more fully into politics and was secretary of state for national defense and veteran affairs in the Phoui Sananikone cabinet (1959) and minister of national defense and veteran affairs under Kou Abhay (early 1960). Struggles between neutralist, right-wing, and Communist factions became more pronounced in 1960, and Nosavan joined the Boun Oum government set up in Savannakhet as deputy prime minister. Although U.S. support for Boun Oum ended in 1962, Nosavan retained his position until 1965, when Prince Souvanna Phouma initiated a reshuffle of army command that would have demoted Nosavan. He attempted a coup (February 1), but it failed, and he then went into exile in Thailand.
Phoumi Vongvichit (b. April 6, 1909, Xieng Khouang, Laos - d. Jan. 7, 1994), acting president of Laos (1986-91). He joined the Lao Issara (Free Laos) revolutionary movement in 1950, and when the movement split in two in 1955, he joined the more radical Stalinist faction, Pathet Lao (Land of Lao), becoming its secretary-general. In 1961 he represented the Pathet Lao in negotiations in Geneva that a year later produced the accord that ended Laos' civil war. For more than a decade thereafter, he served in a series of coalition governments, holding such posts as deputy prime minister, foreign minister, and minister of culture and fine arts. The Pathet Lao seized power in 1975, ending the monarchy. As education minister, he was responsible for the "reeducation" of thousands of royalist supporters of the previous government. He sought to identify socialism with Buddhism and forced monks to preach the party line in their sermons. He was a full member of the ruling Politburo and second in power only to the premier and party leader, Kaysone Phomvihane. He was named acting president in 1986 after Prince Souphanouvong went on indefinite leave, and he retired five years later.
Phoune Sipraseuth (b. 1920 - d. Dec. 8, 1994, Vientiane, Laos), foreign minister of Laos (1975-93).