Gemistus Pletho, Georgius

Gemistus Pletho, Georgius (jôr`jəs jĭmĭs`təs plē`thō), c.1355–1452, Byzantine scholar and philosopher, b. Constantinople. He represented the Orthodox Eastern Church at the Council of Florence in 1439, led Cosimo de' Medici to found the Florentine Academy, and inspired the enthusiastic study of Plato that characterized the Italian Renaissance. In his Laws he advocated a polytheism similar to that of the ancient Greeks. He rejected Aristotle's criticisms of Plato but did not always distinguish Plato's doctrine from the Neoplatonic.