Character from Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Chairman of the Encyclopedia Foundation's Board of Trustees — a brilliant academic who could not see past his encyclopedia to the political crisis engulfing Terminus.
Pirenne embodies the Foundation's first failure mode: institutional blindness. While neighboring kingdoms arm themselves and eye Terminus hungrily, Pirenne insists the Encyclopedia is their mandate and the Empire will protect them. Hardin deposes him not through violence but through the devastating clarity of describing the situation. Pirenne is not stupid — he is simply unable to think outside his domain.
Fussy, bespectacled, with the distracted air of a man whose mind is permanently on the next index entry. Thin, bookish, dressed in academic robes. Fidgets with papers constantly.
Also known as: Lewis Pirenne, Pirenne, Chairman Pirenne