Nagant

The firm Fabrique d'armes Émile et Léon Nagant was established in 1859 in Liège, Belgium, to manufacture firearms.

Émile (born 1830) and Léon (born 1833) Nagant were brothers, and probably best known for their important contributions to the design of the Mosin-Nagant Russian service rifle, adopted in 1891. This introduction to the Tsar's military administration led to the adoption, in 1895, of the Nagant M1895 revolver as their standard-issue sidearm. By this time, Émile's progressive blindness had led to his withdrawal from the firm which had been renamed "L. Nagant & Cie, Liége."

Car manufacture
Later, the firm moved to the manufacture of automobiles; Nagant made cars under licence of the French firm Rochet-Schneider. Nagant cars were made from 1900 to 1927 or 1928. The firm was taken over by Imperia in 1931.