STEPHEN, professor of the Arabic and Chinese languages, and one of the most learned men of his time, was born at Herbelai, near Saint Denis, about four leagues from Paris, in 1683. He studied in Mazarin College, and afterwards in the Seminary of Thirty-three. He was at length appointed professor of Arabic in the Royal College, and admitted a member of the Academy of Inscriptions. In 1738 he was chosen a member of the Royal Society of London, and in 1741 a member of that of Berlin. He was often consulted by the Duke of Orleans, first prince of the blood, who had a particular esteem for him, and made him one of his secretaries. He was the author of many learned works, the most important of which are, 1. *Règles de la Langue Latine mises en vers Français*, Paris, 1706; in 12mo; 2. *Réflexions Critiques sur les Histoires des Anciens Peuples*, Paris, 1735, in 2 vols. 4to; 3. *Meditationes Sinicæ*, 1737, in folio; 4. *Grammatica Sinica* (Chinese Grammar), 1742; and, 5. Several Dissertations printed in the *Mémoires de l'Acad. des Inscriptions*. Fourmont died at Paris on the 18th December 1745, at the age of sixty-two. He must not be confounded with Michel Fourmont, his youngest brother, who was professor of the Syriac language in the Royal College, and a member of the Academy of Inscriptions, and who died in 1746.