NAU, FRANÇOIS-NICOLAS. - Noted French orientalist, b. at Thil (Moselle) on 13 May 1864, d. in Paris on 2 Sept. 1931. Ordained priest in Paris on 17 Dec. 1887, he taught mathematics and astronomy at the Catholic Institute, and in 1928 became dean of the École des sciences. N.'s activity and productivity in Oriental studies, especially concerning Syriac authors, were notable. Together with his teacher, Msgr. Graffin, N. founded the PO in 1899 and directed the Revue de l'Orient chrétien from 1911 to 1919.
Among his publications are to be noted: various documents and studies on the Maronites in the Revue de l'Orient chrétien, 4 (1899) and 5 (1905); a selection of Syriac canons in Le canoniste contemporain, 28 (1905), pp. 641-53, 705-711; 29 (1906), pp. 5-13; the edition of the Liber legum regionum in the Patrologia Syriaca (II, Paris 1907, cols. 490-659), the French version of the Book of Heraclides by Nestorius (ibid. 1910), the History of the Nestorian Church by Barhadbeshabba (PO 9 [ibid. 1913] and 23 [ibid. 1932]), and documents for the history of the Nestorians (PO 13 [ibid. 1916]).