Pierre Larousse

Pierre Larousse (1817-75), French grammarian, lexicographer, and encyclopedist. Pierre Athanase Larousse was born in Toucy. He wrote a number of dictionaries, encyclopedias, and grammar books, including Grammaire supérieure (Higher Grammar, 1868), which became the basis for instruction in the French language in the elementary schools of France. From 1866 to the end of his life he was engaged in compiling and editing the dictionary-encyclopedia Grand dictionnaire universel du XIX siècle (Great Universal Dictionary of the 19th Century), which was issued in 1876 by Librairie Larousse, the publishing house that he helped establish. The work was the basis for many later editions. A new series of Larousse encyclopedias covers such specialized subjects as astronomy, history, and mythology.