A Biographical Dictionary of Freethinkers of All Ages and Nations Part 25

Poe (Edgar Allan), American poet, grandson of General Poe, who figured in the war of independence, b. Boston, 19 Jan. 1809. His mother was an actress. Early left an orphan. After publis.h.i.+ng Tamerlane and other Poems, '27, he enlisted in the United States Army, but was cas.h.i.+ered in '31. He then took to literary employment in Baltimore and wrote many stories, collected as the Tales of Mystery, Imagination, and Humor. In '45 appeared The Raven and other Poems, which proved him the most musical and dextrous of American poets. In '48 he published Eureka, a Prose Poem, which, though comparatively little known, he esteemed his greatest work. It indicates pantheistic views of the universe. His personal appearance was striking and one of his portraits is not unlike that of James Thomson. Died in Baltimore, 7 Oct. 1849.

Poey (Andres), Cuban meteorologist and Positivist of French and Spanish descent, b. Havana, 1826. Wrote in the Modern Thinker, and is author of many scientific memoirs and a popular exposition of Positivism (Paris, 1876), in which he has a chapter on Darwinism and Comtism.

Pompery (Edouard), French publicist, b. Courcelles, 1812. A follower of Fourier, he has written on Blanquism and opportunism, '79, and a Life of Voltaire, '80.

Pomponazzi (Pietro) [Lat. Pomponatius], Italian philosopher, b. Mantua, of n.o.ble family, 16 Sept. 1462. He studied at Padua, where he graduated 1487 as laureate of medicine. Next year he was appointed professor of philosophy at Padua, teaching in concurrence with Achillini. He afterwards taught the doctrines of Aristotle at Ferrara and Bologna. His treatise De Immortalitate Animae, 1516, gave great offence by denying the philosophical foundation of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. The work was burnt by the hangman at Venice, and it is said Cardinal Bembo's intercession with Pope Leo X. only saved Pomponazzi from ecclesiastical procedure. Among his works is a treatise on Fate, Free Will, etc. Pomponazzi was a diminutive man, and was nicknamed "Peretto." He held that doubt was necessary for the development of knowledge, and left an unsullied reputation for upright conduct and sweet temper. Died at Bologna, 18 May, 1525, and was buried at Mantua, where a monument was erected to his memory.

Ponnat (de), Baron, French writer, b. about 1810. Educated by Jesuits, he became a thorough Freethinker and democrat and a friend of A. S. Morin, with whom he collaborated on the Rationaliste of Geneva. He wrote many notable articles in La Libre Pensee, Le Critique, and Le Candide, for writing in which last he was sentenced to one year's imprisonment. He published, under the anagram of De Pontan, The Cross or Death, a discourse to the bishops who a.s.sisted at the Ec.u.menical Council at Rome (Brussels, '62). His princ.i.p.al work is a history of the variations and contradictions of the Roman Church (Paris, '82). Died in 1884.

Porphyry, Greek philosoper of the New Platonic school, b. Sinia, 233 A.D. His original name was Malchus or Melech--a "King." He was a pupil of Longinus and perhaps of Origen. Some have supposed that he was of Jewish faith, and first embraced and then afterwards rejected Christianity. It is certain he was a man of learning and intelligence; the friend as well as the disciple of Plotinus. He wrote (in Greek) a famous work in fifteen books against the Christians, some fragments of which alone remain in the writings of his opponents. It is certain he showed acquaintance with the Jewish and Christian writings, exposed their contradictions, pointed out the dispute between Peter and Paul, and referred Daniel to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes.

He wrote many other works, among which are lives of Plotinus and Pythagorus. Died at Rome about 305.

Porzio (Simone), a disciple of Pomponazzi, to whom, when lecturing at Pisa, the students cried "What of the soul?" He frankly professed his belief that the human soul differed in no essential point from the soul of a lion or plant, and that those who thought otherwise were prompted by pity for our mean estate. These a.s.sertions are in his treatise De Mente Humana.

"Posos (Juan de)," an undiscovered author using this pen-name, expressed atheistic opinions in a book of imaginary travels, published in Dutch at Amsterdam in 1708, and translated into German at Leipsic, 1721.

Post (Amy), American reformer, b. 1803. From '28 she was a leading advocate of slavery abolition, temperance, woman's suffrage and religious reform. Died Rochester, New York, 29 Jan. 1889.

Potter (Agathon Louis de). See De Potter (A. L.)

Potter (Louis Antoine Joseph de). See De Potter (L. A. J.)

Potvin (Charles), Belgian writer b. Mons. 2 Dec. 1818, is member of the Royal Academy of Letters, and professor of the history of literature at Brussels. He wrote anonymously Poesie et Amour '58, and Rome and the Family. Under the name of "Dom Jacobus" he has written an able work in two volumes on The Church and Morality, and also Tablets of a Freethinker. He was president of "La Libre Pensee" of Brussels from '78 to '83, is director of the Revue de Belgique and has collaborated on the National and other papers.

Pouchet (Felix Archimede), French naturalist, b. Rouen 26 Aug. 1800. Studied medicine under Dr. Flaubert, father of the author of Mme. Bovary, and became doctor in '27. He was made professor of natural history at the Museum of Rouen, and by his experiments enriched science with many discoveries. He defended spontaneous generation and wrote many monographs and books of which the princ.i.p.al is ent.i.tled The Universe, '65. Died at Rouen, 6 Dec. 1872.

Pouchet (Henri Charles George), French naturalist, son of the proceeding, b. Rouen, 1833, made M.D. in '64, and in '79 professor of comparative anatomy in the museum of Natural History at Paris. In '80 he was decorated with the Legion of Honor. He has written on The Plurality of the Human Race, '58, and collaborated on the Siecle, and the Revue des Deux Mondes and to la Philosophie Positive.

Pouchkine (A.), see Pushkin.

Pougens (Marie Charles Joseph de), French author, a natural son of the Prince de Conti, b. Paris, 15 Aug. 1755. About the age of 24 he was blinded by small pox. He became an intimate friend of the philosophers, and, sharing their views, embraced the revolution with ardor, though it ruined his fortunes. He wrote Philosophical Researches, 1786, edited the posthumous works of D'Alembert, 1799, and worked at a dictionary of the French language. His Jocko, a tale of a monkey, exhibits his keen sympathy with animal intelligence, and in his Philosophical Letters, 1826, he gives anecdotes of Voltaire, Rousseau, D'Alembert, Pechmeja, Franklin, etc. Died at Vauxbuin, near Soissons, 19 Dec. 1833.

Poulin (Paul), Belgian follower of Baron Colins and author of What is G.o.d? What is Man? a scientific solution of the religious problem (Brussels, 1865), and re-issued as G.o.d According to Science, '75, in which he maintains that man and G.o.d exclude each other, and that the only divinity is moral harmony.

Poultier D'Elmolte (Francois Martin), b. Montreuil-sur-Mer, 31 Oct. 1753. Became a Benedictine monk, but cast aside his frock at the Revolution, married, and became chief of a battalion of volunteers. Elected to the Convention he voted for the death of the King. He conducted the journal, L'Ami des lois, and became one of the Council of Ancients. Exiled in 1816, he died at Tournay in Belgium, 16 Feb. 1827. He wrote Morceaux Philosophiques in the Journal Encyclopedique; Victoire, or the Confessions of a Benedictine; Discours Decadaires, for the use of Theophilantropists, and Conjectures on the Nature and Origin of Things, Tournay, 1821.

Powell (B. F.), compiler of the Bible of Reason, or Scriptures of Ancient Moralists; published by Hetherington in 1837.

Prades (Jean Martin de), French theologian b. Castel-Sarrasin, about 1720. Brought up for the church, he nevertheless became intimate with Diderot and contributed the article Cert.i.tude to the Encyclopedie. On the 18th Nov. 1751 he presented to the Sorbonne a thesis for the doctorate, remarkable as the first open attack on Christianity by a French theologian. He maintained many propositions on the soul, the origin of society, the laws of Moses, miracles, etc., contrary to the dogmas of the Church, and compared the cures recorded in the Gospels to those attributed to Esculapius. The thesis made a great scandal. His opinions were condemned by Pope Benedict XIV., and he fled to Holland for safety. Recommended to Frederick the Great by d'Alembert he was received with favor at Berlin, and became reader to that monarch, who wrote a very anti-Christian preface to de Prades'

work on ecclesiastical history, published as Abrege de l'Histoire ecclesiastique de Fleury, Berne (Berlin) 1766. He retired to a benefice at Glogau (Silesia), given him by Frederick, and died there in 1782.

Prater (Horatio), a gentleman of some fortune who devoted himself to the propagation of Freethought ideas. Born early in the century, he wrote on the Physiology of the Blood, 1832. He published Letters to the American People, and Literary Essays, '56. Died 20 July, 1885. He left the bulk of his money to benevolent objects, and ordered a deep wound to be made in his arm to insure that he was dead.

Preda (Pietro), Italian writer of Milan, author of a work on Revelation and Reason, published at Geneva, 1865, under the pseudonym of "Padre Pietro."

Premontval (Andre Pierre Le Guay de), French writer, b. Charenton, 16 Feb. 1716. At nineteen years of age, while in the college of Plessis Sorbonne, he composed a work against the dogma of the Eucharist. He studied mathematics and became member of the Academy of Sciences at Berlin. He wrote Le Diogene de D'Alembert, or Freethoughts on Man, 1754, Panangiana Panurgica, or the false Evangelist, and Vues Philosophiques, Amst., 2 vols., 1757. He also wrote De la Theologie de L'Etre, in which he denies many of the ordinary proofs of the existence of a G.o.d. Died Berlin, 1767.

Priestley (Joseph), LL.D., English philosopher, b. Fieldhead, near Leeds, 18 March, 1733. Brought up as a Calvinist, he found his way to broad Unitarianism. Famous as a pneumatic chemist, he defended the doctrine of philosophical necessity, and in a dissertation annexed to his edition of Hartley expressed doubts of the immateriality of the sentient princ.i.p.al in man. This doctrine he forcibly supported in his Disquisitions on Matter and Spirit, 1777. Through the obloquy these works produced, he lost his position as librarian to Lord Shelburne. He then removed to Birmingham, and became minister of an independent Unitarian congregation, and occupied himself on his History of the Corruptions of Christianity and History of the Early Opinions Concerning Jesus Christ, which involved him in controversy with Bishop Horsley and others. In consequence of his sympathy with the French Revolution, his house was burnt and sacked in a riot, 14 July, 1791. After this he removed to Hackney, and was finally goaded to seek an asylum in the United States, which he reached in 1794. Even in America he endured some uneasiness on account of his opinions until Jefferson became president. Died 6 Feb. 1804.

Pringle (Allen), Canadian Freethinker, author of Ingersoll in Canada, 1880.

Proctor (Richard Anthony), English astronomer, b. Chelsea, 23 March, 1837. Educated at King's College, London, and at St. John's, Cambridge, where he became B.A. in '60. In '66 he became Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, of which he afterwards became hon. sec. He maintained in '69 the since-established theory of the solar corona. He wrote, lectured, and edited, far and wide, and left nearly fifty volumes, chiefly popularising science. Attracted by Newman, he was for a while a Catholic, but thought out the question of Catholicism and science, and in a letter to the New York Tribune, Nov. '75, formally renounced that religion as irreconcilable with scientific facts. His remarks on the so-called Star of Bethlehem in The Universe of Suns, and other Science Gleanings, and his Sunday lectures, indicated his heresy. In '81 he started Knowledge, in which appeared many valuable papers, notably one (Jan. '87), "The Beginning of Christianity." He entirely rejected the miraculous elements of the gospels, which he considered largely a rechauffe of solar myths. In other articles in the Freethinkers' Magazine and the Open Court he pointed out the coincidence between the Christian stories and solar myths, and also with stories found in Josephus. The very last article he published before his untimely death was a vindication of Colonel Ingersoll in his controversy with Gladstone in the North American Review. In '84 he settled at St. Josephs, Mobille, where he contracted yellow fever and died at New York, 12 Sep. 1888.

Proudhon (Pierre Joseph), French anarchist and political thinker, b. Besancon, 15 Jan. 1809. Self-educated he became a printer, and won a prize of 1,500 francs for the person "best fitted for a literary or scientific career." In '40 appears his memoir, What is Property? in which he made the celebrated answer "C'est le vol." In '43 the Creation of Order in Humanity appeared, treating of religion, philosophy and logic. In '46 he published his System of Economical Contradictions, in which appeared his famous aphorism, "Dieu, c'est le mal." In '48 he introduced his scheme of the organisation of credit in a Bank of the People, which failed, though Proudhon saw that no one lost anything. He attacked Louis Bonaparte when President, and was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 francs. On 2 Jan. '50 he married by private contract while in prison. For his work on Justice in the Revolution and in the Church he was condemned to three years' imprisonment and 4,000 francs fine in '58. He took refuge in Belgium and returned in '63. Died at Pa.s.sy, 19 Jan. 1865. Among his posthumous works was The Gospels Annotated, '66. Proudhon was a bold and profound thinker of n.o.ble aspirations, but he lacked the sense of art and practicability. His complete works have been published in 26 vols.

Protagoras, Greek philosopher, b. Abdera, about 480 B.C. Is said to have been a disciple of Democritus, and to have been a porter before he studied philosophy. He was the first to call himself a sophist. He wrote in a book on the G.o.ds, "Respecting the G.o.ds, I am unable to know whether they exist or do not exist." For this he was impeached and banished, and his book burnt. He went to Epirus and the Greek Islands, and died about 411. He believed all things were in flux, and summed up his conclusions in the proposition that "man is the measure of all things, both of that which exists and that which does not exist." Grote, who defends the Sophists, says his philosophy "had the merit of bringing into forcible relief the essentially relative nature of cognition."

Prudhomme (Sully). See Sully Prudhomme.

Puckler Muskau (Hermann Ludwig Heinrich), Prince, a German writer, b. Muskau, 30 Oct. 1785. He travelled widely and wrote his observations in a work ent.i.tled Letters of a Defunct, 1830; this was followed by Tutti Frutti, '32; Semila.s.so in Africa, '36, and other works. Died 4 Feb. 1871.

Pushkin (Aleksandr Sergyeevich), eminent Russian poet, often called the Russian Byron, b. Pskow, 26 May, 1799. From youth he was remarkable for his turbulent spirit, and his first work, which circulated only in ma.n.u.script, was founded on Parny's Guerre des Dieux, and ent.i.tled the Gabrielade, the archangel being the hero. He was exiled by the Emperor, but, inspired largely by reading Voltaire and Byron, put forward numerous poems and romances, of which the most popular is Eugene Oneguine, an imitation of Don Juan. He also wrote some histories and founded the Sovremennik (Contemporary), 1836. In Jan. 1837 he was mortally wounded in a duel.

Putnam (Samuel P.), American writer and lecturer, brought up as a minister. He left that profession for Freethought, and became secretary to the American Secular Union, of which he was elected president in Oct. 1887. In '88 he started Freethought at San Francisco in company with G. Macdonald. Has written poems, Prometheus, Ingersoll and Jesus, Adami and Heva; romances ent.i.tled Golden Throne, Waifs and Wanderings, and Gottlieb, and pamphlets on the Problem of the Universe, The New G.o.d, and The Glory of Infidelity.

Putsage (Jules), Belgian follower of Baron Colins, founder of the Colins Philosophical Society at Mons; has written on Determinism and Rational Science, Brussels 1885, besides many essays in La Philosophie de L'Avenir of Paris and La Societe Nouvelle of Brussels.

Pyat (Felix) French socialist, writer and orator, b. Vierzon, 4 Oct. 1810. His father was religious and sent him to a Jesuit college at Bourges, but he here secretly read the writings of Beranger and Courier. He studied law, but abandoned it for literature, writing in many papers. He also wrote popular dramas, as The Rag-picker of Paris, '47. After '52 he lived in England, where he wrote an apology for the attempt of Orsini, published by Truelove, '58. In '71 he founded the journal le Combat. Elected to the National a.s.sembly he protested against the treaty of peace, was named member of the Commune and condemned to death in '73. He returned to France after the armistice, and has sat as deputy for Ma.r.s.eilles. Died, Saint Gerainte near Nice, 3 Aug. 1889.

Pyrrho. Greek philosopher, a native of Elis, in Peloponesus, founder of a sceptical school about the time of Epicurus; is said to have been attracted to philosophy by the books of Democritus. He attached himself to Anaxarchus, and joined her in the expedition of Alexander the Great, and became acquainted with the philosophy of the Magi and the Indian Gymnosophists. He taught the wisdom of doubt, the uncertainty of all things, and the rejection of speculation. His disciples extolled his equanimity and independence of externals. It is related that he kept house with his sister, and shared with her in all domestic duties. He reached the age of ninety years, and after his death the Athenians honored him with a statue. He left no writings, but the tenets of his school, which were much misrepresented, may be gathered from s.e.xtus and Empiricus.

Quental. See Anthero de Quental.

"Quepat (Neree.") See Paquet (Rene).

Quesnay (Francois), French economist, b. Merey, 4 June 1694. Self educated he became a physician, but is chiefly noted for his Tableau Economique, 1708, and his doctrine of Laissez Faire. He derived moral and social rules from physical laws. Died Versailles, 16 Dec. 1774.

Quinet (Edgar), French writer, b. Bourgen Bresse, 17 Feb. 1803. He attracted the notice of Cousin by a translation of Herder's The Philosophy of History. With his friend Michelet he made many attacks on Catholicism, the Jesuits being their joint work. He fought in the Revolution of '48, and opposed the Second Empire. His work on The Genius of Religion, '42, is profound, though mystical, and his historical work on The Revolution, '65 is a masterpiece. Died at Versailles, 27 March, 1875.

Quintin (Jean), Heretic of Picardy, and alleged founder of the Libertines. He is said to have preached in Holland and Brabant in 1525, that religion was a human invention. Quintin was arrested and burnt at Tournay in 1530.

Quris (Charles), French advocate of Angers, who has published some works on law and La Defense Catholique et la Critique, Paris, 1864.

Rabelais (Francois), famous and witty French satirist and philosopher, b. Chinon, Touraine, 7 Jan. 1495. At an early age he joined the order of Franciscans, but finding monastic life incompatible with his genial temper, quitted the convent without the leave of his superior. He studied medicine at Montpelier about 1530, after which he practised at Lyons. His great humorous work, published anonymously in 1535, was denounced as heretical by the clergy for its satires, not only on their order but their creed. The author was protected by Francis I. and was appointed cure of Meudon. Died at Paris, 9 April, 1553. His writings show surprising fertility of mind, and Coleridge says, "Beyond a doubt he was among the deepest as well as boldest thinkers of his age."

Radenhausen (Christian), German philosopher, b. Friedrichstadt, 3 Dec. 1813. At first a merchant and then a lithographer, he resided at Hamburg, where he published Isis, Mankind and the World (4 vols.), '70-72; Osiris, '74; The New Faith, '77; Christianity is Heathenism, '81; The True Bible and the False, '87; Esther, '87.

Radicati (Alberto di), Count. See Pa.s.serano.

Ragon (Jean Marie de), French Freemason, b. Bray-sur-Seine, 1781. By profession a civil engineer at Nancy, afterwards Chief of Bureau to the Minister of the Interior. Author of many works on Freemasonry, and The Ma.s.s and its Mysteries Compared with the Ancient Mysteries, 1844. Died at Paris, 1862.

Ram (Joachim Gerhard), Holstein philosopher of the seventeenth century, who was accused of Atheism.

Ramaer (Anton Gerard Willem), Dutch writer b. Jever, East Friesland, 2 Aug. 1812. From '29 he served as officer in the Dutch army. He afterwards became a tax collector, and in '60 was pensioned. He wrote on Schopenhauer and other able works, and also contributed largely to De Dageraad, often under the pseudonym of "Lachme." He had a n.o.ble mind and sacrificed much for his friends and the good cause. Died 16 Feb. 1867.

Ramee (Louise de la), English novelist, b., of French extraction, Bury St. Edmunds, 1840. Under the name of "Ouida," a little sister's misp.r.o.nunciation of Louisa, she has published many popular novels, exhibiting her free and pessimistic opinions. We mention Tricotin, Folle Farine, Signa, Moths and A Village Commune. She has lived much in Italy, where the scenes of several novels are placed.

Ramee (Pierre de la) called Ramus, French humanist, b. Cuth (Vermandois) 1515. He attacked the doctrines of Aristotle, was accused of impiety, and his work suppressed 1543. He lost his life in the ma.s.sacre of St. Bartholomew, 26 Aug. 1572.