yes he was a real person, he lived in france and wrote little rhymes that were to predict the future. i have read some of what hes written, and to be honest. most rhymes are about as clear as 'there will be a war' or 'there will be a famine' its rather hard to be wrong when making that kind of predictions.
there are a lot of hoaxes floating around no the internet though with texts hes supposidly to have written about e.g. 9/11
"In the City of God there will be a great thunder, Two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb, The third big war will begin when the big city is burning" - Fake, he never wrote this.
"Migrate, migrate from Geneva all, Saturn will change from gold to iron, The counter (or contrary) RAYPOZ will exterminate all Before that event Heaven will make (give) signs (signals)." - Nostradamus
he really did write that, what does it mean? i doubt even he knows.