Konstantin Nikolaevich Nikolaev, 1884-1965
Konstantin Nikolaevich Nikolaev was born on April 12, 1884, in Kiev, Russia. A graduate of the Law Department of Kiev University of St. Vladimir, Nikolaev worked as an attorney in Kiev until 1918. In 1920 Nikolaev emigrated to Warsaw, Poland, where he served as legal advisor to the Orthodox Church in Poland, and held other diocesan assignments. In 1933, Nikolaev was forced into exile from Poland, and arrived in Belgrade, Serbia, continuing to advise Church hierarchy on legal affairs. In this capacity, he worked closely with Patriarch Varnava (Rusich) of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and Metropolitan Anastasii (Gribanovskii) of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. Leaving Belgrade in 1944, Nikolaev spent the next two years in Germany, actively involved in defense of human rights, especially in matters concerning Russian refugees. In 1946 he founded the Union of former Russian Jurists in Germany, reestablishing this organization in the United States after his arrival there in 1950. As chair of this organization, Nikolaev continued his efforts on behalf of the Russian émigré community at large.
Nikolaev authored several books on topics relating to jurisprudence and Church history, was a contributor to various émigré periodicals, and published and edited the journal Za pravo i pravdu. He died in New York on June 26, 1965.
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