Isaac La Peyrère
Isaac La Peyrère (; 1596–1676), also known as
Isaac de La Peyrère or
Pererius, was a French-born theologian, writer, and lawyer. La Peyrère is best known as a 17th-century predecessor of the
scientific racialist theory of
polygenism in the form of his
Pre-Adamite hypothesis, which offered a challenge to traditional
Abrahamic understandings of the descent of the human races as derived from the ''
Book of Genesis''. In addition to this, La Peyrère anticipated
Zionism, advocating a Jewish return to
Palestine, within the context of
premillennialist Messianic theology. He moved in prominent circles and was known for his connections to the
Prince of Condé and the abdicated Queen
Christina of Sweden. Born to a
Huguenot family, possibly of
Portuguese Jewish ''
converso'' or
Marrano heritage, La Peyrère was pressured to renounce his views and publicly converted to the
Catholic Church towards the end of his life, though the sincerity of this conversion has been questioned.
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