We present absolute trigonometric parallaxes and relative proper motions for three members of the Pleiades, obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope's Fine Guidance Sensor 1r, a white-light interferometer. We estimate spectral types and luminosity classes of the stars comprising the astrometric reference frame from R % 2000 spectra, VJHK photometry, and reduced proper motions. From these we derive estimates of absolute parallaxes and introduce them into our model as observations with error. We constrain the three cluster members to have a 1 dispersion in distance less than 6.4 pc and find an average abs ¼ 7:43 AE 0:17 AE 0:20 mas, where the second error is systematic due to member placement within the cluster. This parallax corresponds to a distance of 134:6 AE 3:1 pc or a distance modulus of m À M ¼ 5:65 AE 0:05 for these three Pleiades stars, presuming a central location. This result agrees with three other independent determinations of the Pleiades distance. Presuming that the cluster depth systematic error can be significantly reduced because of the random placement of these many members within the cluster, these four independent measures yield a best-estimate Pleiades distance of abs ¼ 7:49 AE 0:07 mas, corresponding to a distance of 133:5 AE 1:2 pc or a distance modulus of m À M ¼ 5:63 AE 0:02. This resolves the dispute between the main-sequence fitting and the Hipparcos distance moduli in favor of main-sequence fitting. Key words: astrometry -distance scale -open clusters and associations: general -stars: distancestechniques: interferometric 1. THE PROBLEM Our knowledge of the life histories of stars relies on models whose fidelity is ultimately tested by appeal to real stars. The Sun provides the most basic calibration of these models, of course, because it is only for the Sun that an accurate age exists and for which the mass, temperature, composition, and structure are known with precision, accuracy, and completeness. Clusters of stars are also fundamental for constructing models because we can assume that all the cluster's members are of the same age and composition, even if other parameters are more loosely constrained.Preeminent among clusters is the Pleiades, and much effort has gone into determining the absolute parallax of this cluster. ESA's Hipparcos mission brought the benefits of space observing to astrometry to produce precise positions, proper motions, and parallaxes for nearly all stars brighter than V % 9. Before Hipparcos, the distance to the Pleiades was too large for ground-based parallaxes to yield a good distance, so the best estimates were derived by comparing the main sequence of the Pleiades with a main sequence constructed from nearby stars with large parallaxes. A small correction for evolution is necessary ( the Pleiades is about 100 Myr old [ Pinsonneault et al. 1998], whereas the nearby field stars are typically as old as the Sun), but the Pleiades appears to have essentially the same elemental abundances as the Sun ( Boesgaard & Friel 1990), obviating a need for a me...