Louis Nicolas

Louis Nicolas was a French missionary in Canada in the late 17th and early 18th century. At the age of about 30, this Jesuit priest arrived in New France in 1664 and stayed for eleven years. He was fascinated by the wildlife and Native peoples of the New World, and is believed to have been the author of the hand-drawn book known as the Codex canadensis, which documents these subjects. Nicolas is the confirmed author of the books Histoire Naturelle des Indes Occidentales and the Grammaire algonquine. He returned to France in 1675, and historians believe that he died in 1682.