Nicolai, Jean

Nicolai, Jean a French Dominican theologian, was born at Monza in 1594. He took the vews of the Dominican Order at the early age of sixteen, and his degree of D.D. at Paris in 1632. For twenty years he filled with high reputation the divinity chair in the house belonging to his order in the Rue St. Jacques, and became its prior in 1661. He spent a considerable portion of his time in commenting on the works of Thomas Aquinas, whose principles he attempted to reconcile with such as widely differ from the genuine notions of the Augustinian school; hence his criticisms have been greatly contested by the followers of Aquinas and St. Augustine. In 1657 he published S. Thomae A quinatis Expositio continua super quatuor Evangelistas, etc., in folio, with numerous notes; he afterwards edited the whole in 19 vols. folio. He also published the Panthelogia of father Rainer of Pisa (Lyons, 1655, 3 vols. folio). He was also author of Gallice Dignitas adversus prceposterum Catalonice assertorum vindicata, etc. (Paris, 1664). See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, 37:959; Niceron, Menoires, vol. xiv, s.v.