Konstantin Nikolaevich Nikolaev
Scope And Content Note
These papers provide insight into the life of the Orthodox Church in Poland in the Interwar period, where Konstantin Nikolaev served as legal advisor to the Orthodox Church in Poland, until he was forced into exile to Yugoslavia, where he continued to be active in the offices of Patriarch Varnava and Metropolitan Anastasii. Nikolaev was a defender of human rights, especially in regards to the Russian émigrés, which is reflected in this collection, particularly in the SUBJECT FILE in the papers of the Union of Russian Jurists. Therefore, these papers reflect his activities on behalf of Russian émigrés at large.
The CORRESPONDENCE is mainly of a personal nature, however, the SUBJECT FILE includes detailed correspondence related to Nikolaev’s role as chair of the Union of Russian Jurists Former DPs in the USA, which was founded by him as a continuation of the Union of Russian Jurists in Germany, which he also established.
Nikolaev’s legal and advocacy activities are also reflected in his SPEECHES AND WRITINGS, which are in part represented in these papers. Particularly significant in this regard are “Bor’ba russkikh tserkovnykh i obshchestvennykh organizatsii za zhizn’ russkikh DP v Germanii,” and “Istoriia dieiatel’nosti russkikh tserkovnykh i obshchestvennykh organizatsii v okkupatsionnykh zonakh Germanii po zashchitie zhizni i svobody b. sovietskikh grazhdan pred amerikanskimi vlastiami.” Also significant is his memoir, “Moi zhiznennyi put’,” which describes his early life, military career, service in the White Army during the Russian Civil War, and émigré activities.
Detailed processing and preservation microfilming for these materials were made possible by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and by matching funds from the Hoover Institution and the Holy Trinity Seminary. The grant also provides depositing a microfilm copy in the Hoover Institution Archives. The original materials remain in the Holy Trinity Seminary Archives as its property. A transfer table indicating corresponding box and reel numbers is appended to this register. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.