Hieromonk A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church an ...

Nikon of Karoulia (also known as Nikon Karulskiy, russian: Никон Карульский; born Nikolai Nikolaevich (von) Strandtman, russian: Николай Николаевич Штрандман; also known as Nikon N. Strandtman; 4 September 1875,

Grodno Grodno (russian: Гродно, pl, Grodno; lt, Gardinas) or Hrodna ( be, Гродна ), is a city in western Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, 300 km (186 mi) from Minsk, about 15 km (9 mi) from the Polish b ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

– 20 September 1963,

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

) was a Russian military officer and Orthodox monk. During his later years, he was known as a

hesychast Hesychasm (; Greek: Ησυχασμός) is a contemplative monastic tradition in the Eastern Orthodox Church in which stillness (''hēsychia'') is sought through uninterrupted Jesus prayer. While rooted in early Christian monasticism, it took it ...

hermit and

starets A starets (russian: стáрец, p=ˈstarʲɪt͡s; fem. ) is an elder of an Eastern Orthodox monastery who functions as venerated adviser and teacher. ''Elders'' or ''spiritual fathers'' are charismatic spiritual leaders whose wisdom stems from Go ...

Karoulia Karoulia ( el, Καρούλια, lit=pulley) is an Eastern Orthodox skete of the community of Mount Athos that is subordinate to the Great Lavra. It is located on the southernmost shore of Mount Athos. Karoulia has 12 huts built in the 17th cent ...

Early life and military career

He was born Nikolai Nikolaevich Strandtman on 4 September 1875 in

. Born into a military family closely associated with the

Russian Imperial family The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to t ...

, his father was , a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

, and his paternal grandfather was Karl Gustav von Strandmann, who in turn was descended from . His brother, , was a diplomat in Serbia. He was a godson of Tsar Alexander II, and he also served as a

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

at the time of Tsar

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

's coronation in 1894. From 1901 to 1902, he toured the world with Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich. Later, he became an

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

for Boris Vladimirovich. Strandtman served as a military officer in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, during which he was a Colonel of the Russian Regiment. For his service, he received various medals and awards from the

. He was also a member of the Indian branch of the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

but later quit, saying that the society had told him that "love was a degradation and that the mind was the highest thing."

Monastic life

He moved to

in 1935 or 1936 and became a hieromonk in the cell of St. John the Chrysostom of

Hilandar Monastery The Hilandar Monastery ( sr-cyr, Манастир Хиландар, Manastir Hilandar, , el, Μονή Χιλανδαρίου) is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos in Greece and the only Serbian monastery there. It wa ...

. He was a fluent speaker of Russian, English, French, and German, but was not conversant in Greek during his time at Mount Athos. One of his amateur interests as a monk was

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

. In 1941, he moved into a cave in

, where he practiced

hesychasm Hesychasm (; Greek: Ησυχασμός) is a contemplative monastic tradition in the Eastern Orthodox Church in which stillness (''hēsychia'') is sought through uninterrupted Jesus prayer. While rooted in early Christian monasticism, it took it ...

as an ascetic and became known as Nikon of Karoulia. At the time, there were also six other Russians living in Karoulia. In May 1948, Gerald Palmer met Nikon personally and wrote an account of him. Since 1950, he visited Nikon about once every year until his death in 1963. Palmer later dedicated his translation of the ''

Philokalia The ''Philokalia'' ( grc, φιλοκαλία, lit=love of the beautiful, from ''philia'' "love" and ''kallos'' "beauty") is "a collection of texts written between the 4th and 15th centuries by spiritual masters" of the mystical hesychast tr ...

'' to Father Nikon, stating in the book's dedication that "without ather Nikon'sinspiration this work would not have been undertaken". Sydney Loch, a British resident of

Ouranoupoli Ouranoupoli ( el, Ουρανούπολη, lit=Sky City, formerly ''Ouranopolis'') is an ancient city and a modern village in Chalcidice. The village is today called Ouranoupoli. Location The village of Ouranoupoli is situated on the coastlin ...

, also wrote accounts of Nikon. He died at Mount Athos on 20 September 1963 ( Old Style date: 7 September 1963).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikon Of Karoulia 1875 births 1963 deaths People from Grodno Russian emigrants to Greece Athonite Fathers Russian Orthodox monks Russian hermits Imperial Russian Army officers Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Russian military personnel of World War I Starets Hesychasts