Niccolò Cabeo (February 26, 1586 – June 30, 1650) was an Italian Jesuit philosopher.

He was born in Ferrara, Italy in 1586, and was educated at the Jesuit college in Parma beginning in 1602. He passed the next two years in Padova and spent 1606–07 studying in Piacenza before completing three years (1607–10) of study in philosophy at Parma. He spent another four years (1612–1616) studying theology in Parma and another year’s apprenticeship at Mantova. He then taught theology and mathematics in Parma, then in 1622 he became a preacher. For a time he received patronage of the Dukes of Mantua and the Este in Ferrara. During this time he was involved in hydraulics projects. He would later return to teach mathematics again in Genoa, the city where he would die in 1650.

He is noted for his contributions to physics experiments and observations. He observed the experiments of Giovanni Battista Baliani regarding falling objects, and he wrote about these experiments noting that two different objects fall in the same amount of time regardless of the medium. He also performed experiments with pendulums and observed that an electrically charged body can attract non-electrified objects. He also noted that two charged objects repelled each other.

Niccolo Cabeo discovered that electrified bodies can attract not electrified ones and two electrified “electricians” repulse each other.

He attended the Jesuit college in Parma and received the equivalent of a B.A. within the order. He was a Jesuit, having entered as a novice in 1602 and as a full Jesuit he would have had a theological degree.

Cabeo taught theology and mathematics in Parma until 1622, and was then a preacher in various Italian cities. He was in Genoa for a time. He was for a time in the service of the Dukes of Mantua and of the Este in Ferrara. He was employed by the Gonzaga on hydraulic projects