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RDF Terms

Person

Persona

Personne

An individual human being.

Corresponds to RiC-E08 (Person entity)

Person is a kind of Agent. Most commonly, a human being (biological person) has a single socially constructed identity or persona. Less common though not rare, one or more personae in addition to the original persona which emerges at or near birth may be associated with the human being over the course of that human being’s lifetime. Such "alternative personae" are most often created by the original person for specific purposes. The original persona may, in everyday discourse, be regarded as “the real person”. Under some circumstances, an alternative persona might eclipse or replace the original person (Mark Twain eclipsing Samuel Clemens; John Wayne eclipsing Marion Mitchell Morrison), that is, the alternative identity becomes the predominant identity. Less common is when two or more persons collaborate to create a shared persona. A persona shared by two or more persons constitutes a kind of group. Within the archival context, the description of a person commonly will focus on the original associated persona, with alternative personae noted. Exceptionally, an alternative persona may displace the original persona as the focus of the description. Under some circumstances, for example, when record resources are associated with two or more different personae of one person, describing the different personae as separate though related persons may be desirable. Alternatively, a person may change their identity over the course of their lifetime.