The present invention provides a rotating electric machine in which damage to a magnet from heat is prevented, eddy current loss is reduced while decreasing an eddy current generated in a permanent magnet, and furthermore, time and cost for manufacturing can be reduced. The present invention provides a permanent magnet rotating electric machine comprising a stator having a plurality of salient stator poles wound with windings; and a rotor separated from the stator by a rotation air gap and held rotatably, wherein the rotor may comprise a rotor iron core having therein a plurality of permanent magnet insertion holes annularly arranged side by side at a distance from one another in a circumferential direction of the rotor; and permanent magnets inserted into the plurality of permanent magnet insertion holes such that the permanent magnets in the insertion holes adjacent to each other along the circumferential direction of the rotor have different magnetic pole directions from each other, and wherein the permanent magnets each may comprise a plurality of magnet pieces arranged side by side and may have a structure in which nothing is interposed between the magnet pieces.