Nicolaas Heinsius the Elder (Latin: Nicolaus Heinsius; 20 July 1620 – 7 October 1681) was a Dutch classical scholar, poet and diplomat. He travelled all over Europe to visit the major libraries and over time collected Europe's largest private library in the field of classical literature. He is regarded as a brilliant text critic in his critical publications of Claudian, Ovid (his most important work), Vergil, Prudentius, Velleius and Valerius Flaccus.