Nau, Jacques Jean David

Nau, Jacques Jean David (zhäk zhäN dävēd` nō), c.1630–1671, French pirate in the West Indies. He is also called François L'Olonnois. He went to the West Indies in 1650. Expelled in 1653 from the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo for buccaneering activities, he found refuge on Tortuga, fitted out a vessel, and began plundering Spanish possessions. His cruelty toward prisoners was bestial, and he was feared over the Spanish Main. In a fight with the Spanish in Campeche all his men were killed, but Nau, disguising himself, watched the celebration of his death and then escaped in a canoe with a few French fugitive slaves. Capturing a Spanish boat in a surprise attack off Cuba, he continued to plunder, sacking Maracaibo in 1667. Wrecked by a storm in the Gulf of Darién, Nau was killed by natives.