Hieromonk 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;[2] 4 September 1875, Grodno, Belarus – 20 September 1963, Mount Athos, Greece) was a Russian military officer and Orthodox monk. During his later years, he was known as a hesychast hermit and starets in Karoulia, Mount Athos.

Nikon of Karoulia
Никон Карульский
Born
Nikolai Nikolaevich Strandtman (Николай Николаевич Штрандман)

(1875-09-04)September 4, 1875
DiedSeptember 20, 1963(1963-09-20) (aged 88)
Parents
RelativesKarl Gustav von Strandmann (paternal grandfather)
FamilyVasily Nikolaevich Strandtman (brother)

Early life and military career

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He was born Nikolai Nikolaevich Strandtman on 4 September 1875 in Grodno, Belarus.[3]

Born into a military family closely associated with the Russian Imperial family, his father was Nikolai Karlovich Strandtman [ru], a lieutenant general in the Imperial Russian Army, and his paternal grandfather was Karl Gustav von Strandmann, who in turn was descended from Gustav Ernst von Strandmann [ru]. His brother, Vasily Nikolaevich Strandtman [ru], was a diplomat in Serbia. He was a godson of Tsar Alexander II, and he also served as a page at the time of Tsar Nicholas II's coronation in 1894.[4] From 1901 to 1902, he toured the world with Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich. Later, he became an adjutant for Boris Vladimirovich.[1]

Strandtman served as a military officer in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I, during which he was a Colonel of the Russian Regiment. For his service, he received various medals and awards from the Imperial Russian Army. He was also a member of the Indian branch of the Theosophical Society in St. Petersburg but later quit, saying that the society had told him that "love was a degradation and that the mind was the highest thing."[5]

Monastic life

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The cliffs of Karoulia, Mount Athos, where Nikon lived as a hermit since 1941

He moved to Mount Athos in 1935 or 1936[1] and became a hieromonk in the cell of St. John the Chrysostom of Hilandar Monastery at Mount Athos.[5] He was a fluent speaker of Russian, English, French, and German, but was not conversant in Greek during his time at Mount Athos.[6] One of his amateur interests as a monk was astronomy.[1]

In 1941, he moved into a cave in Karoulia, where he practiced hesychasm as an ascetic and became known as Nikon of Karoulia. At the time, there were also six other Russians living in Karoulia.[6]

In May 1948, Gerald Palmer met Nikon personally and wrote an account of him.[3] Since 1950, he visited Nikon about once every year until his death in 1963.[6] Palmer later dedicated his translation of the Philokalia to Father Nikon, stating in the book's dedication that "without [Father Nikon's] inspiration this work would not have been undertaken".[7]

Sydney Loch, a British resident of Ouranoupoli, also wrote accounts of Nikon.[5]

He died at Mount Athos on 20 September 1963 (Old Style date: 7 September 1963).[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Диакон Петр Пахомов. Памяти иеросхимонаха Никона (Штрандтмана), карульского отшельника / Православие.Ru". Православие.Ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-08-27.
  2. ^ "Photographs: Nikon N. Strandtman, 1932?-1968". Georgetown University Archival Resources. 2022-08-27. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
  3. ^ a b Johnson, Christopher D. L. (2015). "The Way of an English Pilgrim: Gerald Palmer's Lifelong Athonite Pilgrimage". Modern Greek Studies Yearbook. 31. University of Minnesota Press.
  4. ^ "Unforgettable names: Hieroschemmonk Nikon Karulsky". Вестник Русского Легитимизма (Bulletin of Russian Legitimism). 4 September 2020. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
  5. ^ a b c d Johnson, Christopher D. L. (2015-12-31). "The 'Mystical Mundane' in Fr. Nikon of Karoulia's Letters to Gerald Palmer". Orthodox Monasticism Past and Present. Gorgias Press. pp. 485–498. doi:10.31826/9781463236656-030. ISBN 9781463236656.
  6. ^ a b c Johnson, Christopher D.L. (2019-08-27). "Epistolary Pilgrimage and Eldership in G.E.H. Palmer's Correspondence with Fr. Nikon Strandtman". Canadian-American Slavic Studies. 53 (3). Brill Deutschland GmbH: 323–341. doi:10.1163/22102396-05303007. ISSN 0090-8290. S2CID 203273872.
  7. ^ Palmer, G. E. H.; Ware, Kallistos; Sherrard, Philip (1979). The Philokalia: The Complete Text. Vol. 1. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-11377-X.