BEAUZÉE, NICOLAS. - French grammarian and apologist, b. at Verdun on 9 May 1717, d. at Paris on 25 Jan. 1789. B.’s reputation is connected with his studies in grammar and linguistics. Indeed, after the death of Dumarsais, he was entrusted with writing the articles on grammar for the Encyclopédie, which he later collected and published in 3 vols. together with Marmontel’s articles on literature.
He also wrote a Grammaire générale, ou Exposition raisonnée des éléments nécessaires du langage pour servir de fondement à l'étude de toutes les langues (Paris 1767).
B. should be especially remembered for the apologetic work: Exposition abrégée des preuves historiques de la religion pour servir d'apologie contre les sophismes de l'irrégion (Paris 1747), composed by him at the age of 29 and included by Migne in his Démonstrations évangéliques.