Petrus Ramus (1515-1572), French humanist and philosopher, with mathematical equipment and books. Also known as Pierre de la Ramee, Ramus was born into a noble, but impoverished, family. He was educated at Paris, becoming a lecturer on the classical authors. He tried to publish works on the science of logic, such as his Dialectic (1543), but these were suppressed due to the hostility expressed by the traditional Aristotelian establishment. In 1561 he became a Protestant, fleeing France for fear of religious persecution. He returned in 1571, and was killed in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of the Hugenots on 24 August 1572. Engraving from the 1875 edition of Vies des Savants Illustres.