Persson, Peer

(Petrus Petrejus). Born 1577, in Uppsala; died 1622. Swedish diplomat and historian.

Persson entered government service in 1595. He visited the Russian state three times between 1605 and 1611 and took part in the conclusion of a military-diplomatic alliance between the Swedish king Charles IX Vasa and Tsar Vasilii Ivanovich Shui-skii. He personally knew the first False Dmitrii. In 1614, Persson began to write a history of Rus’, going from ancient times to 1612 (published in Stockholm, 1615, in Swedish). Later he extended the account of events to 1617 (published in Leipzig, 1620, in German). A considerable part of Persson’s work is devoted to the geography of Rus’ and to a description of the daily life and customs of its inhabitants.