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Nicolas Siouffi (1829 (Damascus) – 1901 (Baabda)) was a Syrian Christian, and later French citizen and vice-consul at Mosul, remembered for his study of Mandaeism. He is known for works such as Études sur les Soubbas ou les Sabéens.
Mandaeans were known locally in Arabic as Ṣubba, which Siouffi identified with the Sabians, a People of the Book in the Quran. Siouffi claimed to have identified 4000 Sabians in the Mandaean population. This was well received by the theosophist G. R. S. Mead,G. R. S. Mead Gnostic John the Baptizer: Selections from the Mandaean John-Book p137 "... the French Vice-Consul at Mosul, estimated them at some 4000 souls in all ( Etudes sur la Religion des Soubbas ou Sabéens, Paris, 1880). These were then to be found chiefly in the neighbourhood of Baṣra aud Kút. Siouffi's estimate, " but received highly critical reviews from scholars, accusing Siouffi of ignorance and his teacher of dishonesty.The Edinburgh review 1880 Sydney Smith "Admitting M. Siouffi's ignorance and his teacher's possible dishonesty, these are scarcely sufficient to account for the origin of all the traditions and beliefs described in the * Etudes sur la religion 'des Soubbas'."
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