Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius was a Latin poet, possibly a native of Africa. Porfyrius has been identified with Publilius Optatianus, who was praefectus urbi in 329 and 333. For some reason he had been banished, but having addressed a panegyric to the Emperor Constantine I, he was allowed to return.
Publilius Syrus, was a Latin writer, best known for his sententiae. He was a Syrian from Antioch who was brought as a slave to Roman Italy. Syrus was brought to Rome on the same ship that brought a certain Manilius, astronomer - not the famous Manilius of the 1st century AD, and Staberius Eros the grammarian. By his wit and talent, Syrus won the favour of his master, who granted him manumission and educated him. He became a member of the Publilia gens. Publilius' name, due to the palatalization of 'l' between two 'i's in the Early Middle Ages, is often presented by manuscripts in corrupt form as 'Publius', Publius being a very common Roman praenomen.
Publius Rutilius Lupus was a Roman rhetorician who flourished during the reign of Tiberius. He was the author of a treatise on the figures of speech, abridged from a similar work by the rhetorician Gorgias of Athens, who was the tutor of Cicero the Younger. In its present form the treatise is incomplete, as is clearly shown by the express testimony of Quintilian (Inst. ix.2.101–105 passim). Lupus also dealt with figures of sense and other rhetorical figures. The work is valuable chiefly as containing a number of examples, well translated into Latin, from the lost works of Greek rhetoricians. The author has been identified with the Lupus mentioned in the Ovidian catalogue of poets (Ex Ponto, iv.16), and was perhaps the son of the Publius Rutilius Lupus, who was a strong supporter of Pompey.
Publius Valerius Cato was a grammarian and poet of the Roman Republic. He was a leader of the Neoteric movement, whose followers rejected national epic and drama in favor of the artificial mythological epics and elegies of the Alexandrian school, preferring Euphorion of Chalcis to Ennius. They regarded knowledge of Greek literature and myths, and strict adherence to metrical rules, as indispensable to the poet. The great influence of Cato is attested by the lines: Cato grammaticus, Latina Siren, Qui solus legit ac facit poetas.
Professor Puran Singh was a Punjabi poet, scientist and mystic. Born in Abbottabad, now in Pakistan, in a Sikh family, he is acclaimed as one of the founders of modern Punjabi poetry.
He passed his matriculation examination at the Mission High School Rawalpindi in 1897 and, after obtaining a scholarship for the years 1900 to 1903, obtained a degree in Industrial Chemistry from Tokyo University in Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Though a born Sikh he became a Buddhist Bhikshu and a sanyasi under influence of Ukakura a Japanese Buddhist monk and Swami Ramtirath respectively before he finally got settled as a Sikh mystic when he came under influence of Bhai Vir Singh during a Sikh Educational Conference meeting at Sialkot in 1912.
I Gusti Ngurah Putu Wijaya, better known simply as Putu Wijaya, was born in Tabanan, Bali. He is an Indonesian author, considered by many to be one of Indonesia's most prominent literary figures. His output is impressive; his published works include more than thirty novels, forty dramas, a hundred short stories, and thousands of essays, articles, screenplays and television dramas, and he has been the recipient of a number of literary prizes.
Pylyp Morachevskyi (1806–1879) was a Ukrainian romantic poet, and translator of the New Testament into Ukrainian. He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Khvylymon Haluzenko.
Pyong Gap Min is a sociologist, currently a Distinguished Professor of Sociology at City University of New York, Director of the Research Center for Korean Community at Queens College and also a published author. In 2012, he was awarded the Distinguished Career Award by the American Sociological Association.
Count Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy was a Russian statesman and diplomat, prominent during and after the reign of Peter the Great. He was the ancestor of all the Counts Tolstoy, including the novelist Leo Tolstoy and Alexei Tolstoy the writer. His wife was Solomonida Timofeevna Dubrovskaya born 1660 and died 1722; he had two sons with her, Ivan and Peter. Both his sons died in exile with him the year before his own death. He was, however, survived by many grandchildren: the family was recalled by the Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great in 1760, and had all honors and land restored.
Pyotr Ivanovich Averyanov was a Russian general who served as the chief of staff of the general headquarters (stavka) of the Imperial Russian Army from August 1916 to May 1917.
