Look up Nicholas in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Nicholas or Nikolas is a male given name, derived from the Greek name Νικόλαος (Nikolaos), a combination of the words for "victory" (νίκη; níkē) and "people" (λαὸς; laós). The name can be understood to mean victory of the people. The Greek word (νίκη; níkē) is derived from Egyptian nekht, meaning "to be strong" or "powerful". In addition, "laos" or "λαὸς" in Greek, originates from the word root "-las", as found in the word "λα-τομεῑο" meaning "stone" or "rock" (in Greek Mythology, Deucalion and Pyrrha recreated the people after they had vanished in a catastrophic deluge, by throwing stones behind their shoulders while they kept marching on). The name became popular through Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia, the inspiration for Santa Claus. The customary English version of spelling "Nicholas", using an "h", first came into use in the 12th century and has been firmly established since the Reformation, though "Nicolas" is occasionally used. In 2006, Nicholas – and its variations – was the 17th most popular male name given to babies in the USA. Roughly 0.7151% of the baby boys born that year, or 15,414, were given that name. It is decreasing in popularity, from a high in 1997, when 27,248 US males were given the name Nicholas. That year was the most popular year for Nicholas since 1880, when U.S. records were kept for given names.^[1]

The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its derivatives are especially popular in maritime regions, as St. Nicholas is considered the protector saint of seafarers.

Male variations[link]

Variations for males include^[2][3]:

• Albanian: Nikollë, Nikolla, Nikë, Klaus, Koll, Kolë
• Arabic: نقولا‎
• Basque: Nikola
• Belarusian: Mikalai (Мікалай), Mikola (Мікола)
• Bulgarian: Никола (Nikola), Николай (Nikolay), Никлен (Niklen), Никулица (Nikùlitsa), Коле (Kole), Кольо (Kolyo), Колю (Kolyu)
• Catalan: Nicolau
• Chinese: 尼古拉斯 (Nígǔlāsī)
• Croatian: Nikola, Nikula, Mikola, Mikac, Mika, Nikić, Niko, Mikula
• Czech: Mikoláš, Mikuláš, Nikola
• Danish: Claus, Klaus, Niels, Nicolai, Nicklaus, Nikolaus, Nikolaj, Nilaus, Nis, Nikolas, Nikolai
• Dutch: Nicolaas, Nikolaas, Klaas, Nico, Niek, Niels
• English: Nicholas, Nikolas, Colin
• Esperanto: Niĉjo, Niko, Nikolao
• Estonian: Nigul
• Fijian: Niko
• Finnish: Launo, Niilo, Niklas, Niko, Nikolai
• French: Nicolas, Nico, Colas, Colin
• Galician: Nicolao
• Georgian: ნიკოლოზ-ი (Nikoloz), ნიკო (Niko)
• German: Claus, Claas, Klaas, Klaus, Klas, Nickolaus, Nicolas, Nicolaus, Niklaus, Nikolaus, Nikolo, Niklas, Nico, Niko
• Greek: Νικόλαος (Nikolaos), Νικόλας (Nikolas), Νίκος (Nikos), Νικολής (Nikolis), Νικήτας (Niketas)
• Hungarian: Miklós, Nikola, Nyikoláj
• Irish: Nioclás
• Italian: Niccolò, Nico, Nicola, Nicolò, Nicolas
• Japanese: ニコラス (Nikorasu)
• Korean: 니콜라스 (Nikollaseu)
• Latin: Nicolaus
• Latvian: Nikolass, Nikolajs, Niks
• Lithuanian: Mikalojus
• Leonese language: Nicolás, Nicu, Colás
• Low German: Nikolaas, Nicolaas, Klaas, Klaus
• Macedonian: Никола (Nikola), Коле (Kole), Кољо (Koljo), Николче (Nikolče), Николе (Nikole)
• Malay: Nikk
• Norwegian: Niels, Nikolai
• Polish: Mikołaj, Mik, Mikołajek
• Portuguese: Nicolau, Nicolas
• Romanian: Neculai, Nicolae, Nicu, Nicușor, Niculae
• Russian: Николай (Nikolai), Коля (Kolya)
• Scottish Gaelic: Neacel, Nichol, Nicol, Caelan, Calen
• Serbian: Никола/Nikola, Николај/Nikolaj, Никша/Nikša, Николица/Nikolica, Никшица/Nikšica, Нико/Niko, Никица/Nikica
• Slovak: Mikuláš, Nikola, Mikoláš
• Slovene: Miklavž, Niko, Nikolaj
• Spanish: Nicolás, Nicolao
• Swedish: Nels, Niklas, Niclas, Nicklas, Nils, Klas, Claes
• Turkish: Nikola
• Ukrainian: Микола (Mykola), Миколай (Mykolai)
• West Frisian: Klaes

Female forms[link]

Female forms include^[2]:

• Bulgarian: Николина (Nikolina), Николета (Nikoleta), Никол (Nikol), Нина (Nina)
• Croatian: Nikolina, Nika, Nina
• Czech: Nikol, Nikoleta, Nikola, Nicol
• Dutch: Klasina, Klazina, Nicole, Nicolien, Nicolet, Nicoline
• Danish: Nikoline
• English: Nicole/Nichole/Nicolle/Nikole/Nikkole, Nicola/Nichola, Nicolette, Colette, Nicky/Nikki/Nicci
• French: Colette, Coline, Nicole, Nicolette, Nicoline
• German: Nicole, Nikole, Nicola, Nikola
• Greek: Νίκη (Níkē, a conflation with Níke), Νικολέτα (Nikoléta), Νικολίνα (Νikolína)
• Hungarian: Nikolett
• Italian: Nicoletta, Nicola, Nicole, Nicolina
• Macedonian: Nikolina
• Portuguese: Nicole
• Romanian: Niculina, Nicoleta, Nicolina, Nico
• Scottish^{[disambiguation needed ]}: Nicola
• Serbian: Nikolija (archaic), Nikolina, Nikoleta
• Slovak: Nikola, Nikoleta
• Slovene: Nika
• Spanish: Nicolasa, Nikoletta, Nicolá
• Turkish: Nikol

People known as Nicholas[link]

• Nicholas of Cusa
• Nicolas Flamel, famous alchemist
• Nicholas I of Montenegro, King of Montenegro
• Nicholas I of Russia
• Nicholas II of Russia
• Nicholas of Tolentino
• Prince Nicholas of Romania (1903–1978)
• Nicholas is also the name of five popes (Pope Nicholas I, Pope Nicholas II, Pope Nicholas III, Pope Nicholas IV, and Pope Nicholas V), Antipope Nicholas V and four Patriarchs of Constantinople of which best known are Nicholas Mystikos, and Nicholas III Grammatikos
• Nicholas Tse (Chinese: 謝霆鋒, born 1980), Hong Kong singer and actor.
• Nicholas "Nick" Clegg (born 1967), British politician
• Nick Jonas (born 1992), Singer & Songwriter
• Nicholas Mosley (born 1923), British novelist and aristocrat
• Nicholas Charles Sparks (born 1965), American novelist, screenwriter
• Nicholas Sparks (politician) (1794–1862), American politician.

Saints[link]

• Saint Nicholas The Duc Bui, one of the Vietnamese Martyrs
• Saint Nicholas of Flue
• Saint Nicholas of Japan
• Saint Nicholas of Myra, also known as Sinterklaas

See also[link]

• Nikolaos

References[link]

Nicolas Cage
Cage at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International.
Born	Nicolas Kim Coppola (1964-01-07) January 7, 1964 (age 48)[1] Long Beach, California, US
Occupation	Actor, producer, director
Years active	1980–present
Spouse	Patricia Arquette (1995–2001) Lisa Marie Presley (2002–2004) Alice Kim (2004–present)
Children	Weston Coppola Cage Kal-El Cage
Parents	August Coppola (deceased) Joy Vogelsang
Family	Marc Coppola (brother) Christopher Coppola (brother) Francis Ford Coppola (uncle) Eleanor Coppola (aunt)

Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola; January 7, 1964) is an Academy Award–winning American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona (1987), The Rock (1996), Face/Off (1997), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), Adaptation (2002), National Treasure (2004), Lord of War (2005), Ghost Rider (2007), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), Kick-Ass (2010), and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012).

Early life[link]

Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola^[2] on January 7, 1964^[1][3][4][5] in Long Beach, California. His father, August Coppola, a professor of literature, and his mother, Joy Vogelsang, a dancer and choreographer, divorced in 1976. He was raised in a Catholic family.^[6][7] Cage's mother is of German descent and his father was of Italian descent. His paternal grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola and actress Italia Pennino, and his paternal great-grandparents were immigrants from Bernalda, Basilicata.^[8] Through his father, Cage is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and the cousin of directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola, film producer Gian-Carlo Coppola, and actors Robert Carmine and Jason Schwartzman. Cage's two brothers are New York radio personality Marc "The Cope" Coppola and director Christopher Coppola. He attended Beverly Hills High School, which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers. He aspired to act from an early age and also attended UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a school production of Golden Boy.

Career[link]

Acting career[link]

To avoid the appearance of nepotism as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, he changed his name early in his career to Nicolas Cage, inspired in part by the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage. Since his minor role in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, with Sean Penn, Cage has appeared in a wide range of films, both mainstream and offbeat. He tried out for the role of Dallas Winston in his uncle's film The Outsiders, based on S.E. Hinton's novel, but lost to Matt Dillon. He was also in Coppola's films Rumble Fish and Peggy Sue Got Married.

Other Cage roles included appearances in the acclaimed 1987 romantic-comedy Moonstruck, also starring Cher; The Coen Brothers cult-classic comedy Raising Arizona; David Lynch's 1990 offbeat film Wild at Heart; a lead role in Martin Scorsese's 1999 New York City paramedic drama Bringing Out the Dead; and Ridley Scott's 2003 quirky drama Matchstick Men, in which he played an agoraphobic, mysophobic, obsessive-compulsive con artist with a tic disorder.

Cage has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, winning once for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in Leaving Las Vegas. His other nomination was for his portrayal of real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Kaufman's fictional twin Donald in Adaptation. Despite these successes, most of his lower-profile films have performed poorly at the box office compared to his mainstream action/adventure roles. The suspense thriller 8mm (1999) was not a box office success, but is now considered a cult film. He took the lead role in the 2001 film Captain Corelli's Mandolin and learned to play the mandolin from scratch for the part. He made his directorial debut with 2002's Sonny. In 2005, two offbeat films he headlined, Lord of War and The Weather Man, failed to find a significant audience despite nationwide releases and good reviews for his acting in those roles. Poor reviews for The Wicker Man resulted in low box office sales. The much criticized Ghost Rider (2007), based on the Marvel Comics character, fared better, earning more than $45 million (the top earner) during its opening weekend and over $208 million worldwide through the weekend ending on March 25, 2007. Also in 2007, he starred in Next, which shared the concept of a glimpse into an alternate timeline with Cage's film, The Family Man (2000).

Most of Cage's movies that have achieved financial success were in the action/adventure genre. In his second-highest grossing film to date, National Treasure, he plays an eccentric historian who goes on a dangerous adventure to find treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States. Other action hits include The Rock, in which Cage plays a young FBI chemical weapons expert who infiltrates Alcatraz Island in hopes of neutralizing a terrorist threat, Face/Off, a John Woo film where he plays both a hero and a villain, and World Trade Center, director Oliver Stone's film regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks. He had a small but notable role as the Chinese criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu in Rob Zombie's fake trailer Werewolf Women of the S.S. from the B-movie double feature Grindhouse.

Cage made his directorial debut with Sonny, a low-budget drama starring James Franco as a male prostitute whose mother (Brenda Blethyn) serves as his pimp. Cage had a small role in the film, which received poor reviews and a short run in a limited number of theatres. Cage's producing career includes Shadow of the Vampire, the first effort from Saturn Films.

In early December 2006, Cage announced at the Bahamas International Film Festival that he planned to curtail his future acting endeavors to pursue other interests. On The Dresden Files for the Sci-Fi Channel, Cage is listed as the executive producer.

In November 2007, Cage was spotted backstage at a Ring of Honor wrestling show in New York City researching his role for The Wrestler. The role was ultimately played by Mickey Rourke, who received an Academy Award nomination for his performance.^[9] Wrestler Director Darren Aronofsky, in an interview with slashfilm.com, said of Cage's decision to leave the film that: "Nic was a complete gentleman, and he understood that my heart was with Mickey and he stepped aside. I have so much respect for Nic Cage as an actor and I think it really could have worked with Nic but ... you know, Nic was incredibly supportive of Mickey and he is old friends with Mickey and really wanted to help with this opportunity, so he pulled himself out of the race.^[10]"

Cage at the 66th Venice Film Festival in September 2009

In 2008, Cage appeared as Joe, a contract killer who undergoes a change of heart while on a work outing in Bangkok, in the film Bangkok Dangerous. The film is shot by the Pang Brothers and has a distinct South-East Asian flavor. In 2009, Cage starred in science fiction thriller Knowing, directed by Alex Proyas. In the film, he plays an MIT professor who examines the contents of a time capsule unearthed at his son's elementary school. Startling predictions found inside the capsule that have already come true lead him to believe the world is going to end at the close of the week, and that he and his son are somehow involved in the destruction. The film received mainly negative reviews but was the box office winner on its opening weekend. Also in 2009, Cage starred in the film Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, directed by acclaimed German director Werner Herzog. He portrayed a corrupt police officer with gambling, drug and alcohol addictions. The film was very well received by critics, holding a rating of 87% positive reviews on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.^[11] Cage received lauds for his performance, with Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune writing "Herzog has found his ideal interpreter, a performer whose truth lies deep in the artifice of performance: ladies and gentlemen, Nicolas Cage, at his finest."^[12] This film reunited Cage with Eva Mendes, who played his love interest in Ghost Rider. In 2010, Cage starred in the period piece Season of the Witch, playing a 14th-century knight transporting a girl accused of causing the Black Plague to a monastery, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice, in which he played the sorcerer.^[13]

Other works[link]

Cage, an avid comic book fan, auctioned a collection of 400 vintage comics through Heritage Auctions for over $1.6 million in 2002.^[14]

In 2007 he created a comic book with his son Weston, called Voodoo Child, which was published by Virgin Comics.

Cage is a fan and collector of painter and underground comic artist Robert Williams. He has written introductions for Juxtapoz magazine and purchased the painting Death On The Boards.^[15]

Acting style[link]

In February 2011, Cage claimed to have created a new method of acting he calls "Nouveau Shamanic". He claims to have used the acting style throughout his career and one day plans to write a book about the method.^[16]

Praise and criticism[link]

Nicolas Cage's acting has been praised by influential film critic Roger Ebert who writes, in his "Great Movies" essay about the film Adaptation, that: "There are often lists of the great living male movie stars: De Niro, Nicholson and Pacino, usually. How often do you see the name of Nicolas Cage? He should always be up there. He's daring and fearless in his choice of roles, and unafraid to crawl out on a limb, saw it off and remain suspended in air. No one else can project inner trembling so effectively.... He always seems so earnest. However improbable his character, he never winks at the audience. He is committed to the character with every atom and plays him as if he were him."^[17] Roger Ebert, in response to mixed reviews of Knowing and their focus on criticizing Cage, wrote an article in which he defends both Cage as an actor and the movie to which, in stark contrast to other critics, Ebert gave 4/4 stars.^[18]

In the 68th Academy Awards, Cage was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas.^[19]

In May 2001, Cage was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by California State University, Fullerton. He spoke at the commencement ceremony.^[20]

Despite such praise, Cage has his detractors. Cage has been criticized for choosing to star in big-budget, action-adventure movies rather than smaller, character-driven dramas, the type of film that initially garnered him praise.^[21] In 1999, one-time friend Sean Penn expressed that sentiment to the New York Times, declaring Cage "no longer an actor."^[22]

Personal life[link]

Relationships and family[link]

In 1988, Cage began dating actress Christina Fulton, who later bore their son, Weston Coppola Cage (born December 26, 1990). Weston is lead singer of the black metal band Eyes of Noctum, and appeared in Cage's film Lord of War as Vladimir, a young Ukrainian mechanic who quickly disarms a Mil Mi-24 helicopter.

Cage has been married three times. His first wife was actress Patricia Arquette (married on April 8, 1995, divorce finalized on May 18, 2001).

Cage's second marriage was to singer/songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. Cage is an Elvis fan and used the star as the base of his performance in Wild at Heart. Presley and Cage married on August 10, 2002 and filed for divorce on November 25, 2002 which was finalized on May 16, 2004. The divorce proceeding was longer than the marriage.^[23]

Cage met his third and current wife Alice Kim, a former waitress who previously worked at the Los Angeles restaurant Kabuki and at the Los Angeles-based Korean nightclub, Le Privé. She bore their son, Kal-El, (after Superman's birth name^[24]) on October 3, 2005. Cage was once considered for the role of Superman in a film to be directed by Tim Burton. Alice had a minor role in the 2007 film Next, which Cage produced. They were married at a private ranch in Northern California on July 30, 2004.^{[citation needed]}

Real estate and tax problems[link]

Nicolas Cage is one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, earning $40 million in 2009 according to Forbes Magazine.^[25]

Cage had a Malibu home where he and Kim lived, but sold the property in 2005 for $10 million. In 2004 he bought a property on Paradise Island, Bahamas. In May 2006, he bought a 40-acre (160,000 m²) island in the Exuma archipelago, some 85 miles (137 km) southeast of Nassau and close to a similar island owned by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

He once owned the medieval castle of Schloss Neidstein in the Oberpfalz region in Germany, which he bought in 2006 and sold in 2009 for $2.5 million. His grandmother was German, living in Cochem an der Mosel.^[26]

Schloss Neidstein in Bavaria was owned by Cage between 2007 and 2009.

In August 2007, Cage purchased "Grey Craig", a 24,000-square-foot (2,200 m²) brick-and-stone country manor in Middletown, Rhode Island. With an estate occupying 26 acres (110,000 m²) the home has 12 bedrooms and 10 full bathrooms and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean as well. It borders the Norman Bird Sanctuary to the west. The sale ranked among the state of Rhode Island's most expensive residential purchases until eclipsed that same year, 2007, by the $17.15 million sale of the Miramar mansion on Bellevue Avenue in Newport.

Also in 2007, the actor purchased Midford Castle in Somerset, England.^[27][28][29] Shortly after selling his German castle, Cage also put homes in Rhode Island, Louisiana, Nevada, and California, as well as a $7 million island in the Bahamas, up for sale.

On July 14, 2009, the Internal Revenue Service filed documents in New Orleans in connection with a federal tax lien against property owned by Cage in Louisiana, concerning unpaid federal taxes. The IRS alleges that Cage failed to pay over $6.2 million in federal income tax for the year 2007.^[30] In addition, the Internal Revenue Service has another lien for more than $350,000 in unpaid taxes dating from 2002 to 2004.^[31] Cage filed a $20 million lawsuit on October 16, 2009, against his business manager, Samuel J. Levin, alleging negligence and fraud.^[32] The lawsuit states that Levin "had failed to pay taxes when they were due and had placed [Cage] in speculative and risky real estate investments 'resulting in (the actor) suffering catastrophic losses'."^[32] Cage is also facing separate lawsuits from East West Bank^[33] and Red Curb Investments for unpaid, multimillion dollar loans.

The LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans was purchased anonymously by Cage in 2007 and sold in 2009.

Samuel Levin filed a counter-complaint and responded to the lawsuit in a filing stating that he warned Cage that he was living beyond his means and urged him to spend less. Levin's filing states that "instead of listening to Levin, cross-defendant Cage (Coppola) spent most of his free time shopping for high ticket purchases, and wound up with 15 personal residences", Levin's complaint continued: "Likewise, Levin advised Coppola against buying a Gulfstream jet, against buying and owning a flotilla of yachts, against buying and owning a squadron of Rolls Royces, against buying millions of dollars in jewelry and art."^[34]

In his filing Levin says that in 2007 Cage's "shopping spree entailed the purchase of three additional residences at a total cost of more than $33 million; the purchase of 22 automobiles (including 9 Rolls Royces); 12 purchases of expensive jewelry; and 47 purchases of artwork and exotic items."^[34] One of those exotic items was a dinosaur skull of a Tarbosaurus for which Nicolas Cage paid $276,000 in an auction after winning a bidding contest against Leonardo DiCaprio.^[35]

According to Cage, he owned the "Most Haunted House in America", a home located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.^[36] The home is known as "The LaLaurie house" after its former owner Delphine LaLaurie. The house was foreclosed and sold at auction on November 12, 2009 along with another New Orleans property for a total of $5.5 million, in the wake of his financial problems.^[37]

His Bel Air home, which had six loans totaling $18 million on it, failed to sell at an April 2010 foreclosure auction despite an opening offer of $10.4 million, substantially less than the $35 million that Cage had originally tried to sell it for. The home, built in 1940 for $110,000 had been owned by Dean Martin and singer Tom Jones.^[38] The home eventually sold in November 2010 for $10.5 million.^[39] Another home in Nevada also faces foreclosure auction.^[37]

In November 2011, Cage also sold his Action Comics 1 in an online auction for a record-breaking $2.16 million dollars (the previous record being 1.5), to assist paying his tax liens and other debts. Cage purchased the comic in 1997 for $110,000.^[40]

Legal issues[link]

In December 2009, Christina Fulton sued Cage for $13 million and the house she is living in. The suit was in response to an order that she leave the dwelling that was brought about by Cage's financial difficulties.^[41]

On April 15, 2011, at 11:30 pm, Cage was arrested in New Orleans in the city's famed French Quarter district for suspicion of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public intoxication, after a police officer was flagged down by onlookers after Cage allegedly grabbed his wife's upper arm while appearing to be under the influence of alcohol.^[42] Cage was held in police custody until a bail of $11,000 was posted by Duane "Dog" Chapman.^[43][44] He was later ordered to appear in court on May 31, 2011.^[45] On May 5, 2011, it was announced that the charges against Cage had been dropped.^{[46][47][48][49]}

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

Film portal

• Coppola family tree
• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nicolas Cage

• Nicolas Cage at the Internet Movie Database
• Nicolas Cage at AllRovi
• World Trade Center Interview with Nicolas Cage From IGN FilmForce

Nicholas I
Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias
Reign	1 December 1825 – 2 March 1855
Coronation	3 September 1826
Predecessor	Alexander I
Successor	Alexander II
Consort	Charlotte of Prussia
Issue
Alexander II of Russia Maria, Duchess of Leuchtenberg Olga, Queen of Württemberg Alexandra, Princess Frederick William of Hesse-Cassel Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaievich Grand Duke Nicholas Grand Duke Mikhail
Full name
Nicholas Pavlovich Romanov
House	House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
Father	Paul of Russia
Mother	Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg
Born	(1796-07-06)6 July 1796 Gatchina, Russian Empire
Died	2 March 1855(1855-03-02) (aged 58) Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Burial	Peter and Paul Cathedral
Religion	Russian Orthodox

Nicholas I (Николай I Павлович, Nikolaj I Pavlovič), (6 July [O.S. 25 June] 1796 – 2 March [O.S. 18 February] 1855) was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers (7.7 million square miles). In his capacity as the emperor he was also the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Finland.

Nicholas I was born in Gatchina to Emperor Paul I and Empress Maria Feodorovna. He was a younger brother to Alexander I of Russia and Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia.

Early life and road to power[link]

Nicholas was not brought up to be the Emperor of Russia; he had two elder brothers before him. As such, in 1825, when Alexander I suddenly died of typhus, Nicholas was caught between swearing allegiance to his second-eldest brother Constantine Pavlovich and accepting the throne for himself. The interregnum lasted until Constantine Pavlovich, who was in Warsaw at that time, confirmed his refusal. Additionally, on 25 December (13 Old Style) Nicholas issued the manifesto claiming his accession to the throne. That manifesto retroactively named 1 December (19 November Old Style), the date of Alexander I's death, as the beginning of his reign. During this confusion a plot was hatched by the military to overthrow Nicholas and to usurp power. This led to the Decembrist Revolt on 26 December (14 Old Style) 1825, an uprising Nicholas was successful in suppressing.

Emperor and principles[link]

Imperial Monogram

Nicholas completely lacked his brothers' spiritual and intellectual breadth; he saw his role simply as one paternal autocrat ruling his people by whatever means were necessary.^[1] Nicholas I was crowned on 14 December 1825,^[2] which fell on a Monday; Russian superstition held that Mondays were unlucky days.^[3] This particular Monday dawned as a very cold day with temperatures of −8 degrees Celsius.^[3] This was regarded by the Russian people as a bad omen for the coming reign. Coincident with the accession of Nicholas I was a demonstration of 3,000 young Imperial Army officers and other liberal-minded citizens. This demonstration was an attempt to force the government to accept a constitution and a representative form of government. Nicolas ordered the army out to smash the demonstration. This "revolt" was quickly put down and became known as the Decembrist Revolt. Having experienced the trauma of the Decembrist Revolt on the very first day of his reign, Nicholas I was determined to restrain Russian society. The Third Section of the Imperial Chancellery ran a huge network of spies and informers with the help of Gendarmes. The government exercised censorship and other controls over education, publishing, and all manifestations of public life.

He abolished several areas of local autonomy. Bessarabia's autonomy was removed in 1828, Poland's in 1830 and the Jewish cahal was abolished in 1843. Russia's first railway was opened in 1838, a 16 mile line between St. Petersburg and the palace at Tsarskoye Selo. The second was the Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway, built 1842–51. Nevertheless, by 1855 there was only 570 miles of Russian railways.^[4]

In 1833 the minister of education, Sergey Uvarov, devised a program of "Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality" as the guiding principle of the regime. The people were to show loyalty to the unlimited authority of the tsar, to the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, and, in a vague way, to the Russian nation. These romantic and conservative principles outlined by Uvarov were also espoused by Vasilii Zhukovskii, one of the tutors of the Grand Duke Alexander.^[5] The results of these conservative principles led, broadly speaking, to repression in general and to suppression of non-Russian nationalities and religions in particular.^[6] For example, the government suppressed the Greek-Catholic Churches in Ukraine and Belarus in 1839. See also Cantonists.

Nicholas disliked serfdom and toyed with the idea of abolishing it in Russia, but did not do so for practical reasons of state. He feared the landowners and believed they might turn against him if he abolished serfdom. However, he did make some efforts to improve the lot of the state peasants (serfs owned by the government) with the help of the minister Pavel Kiselev. During most of his reign he tried to increase his control over the landowners and other influential groups in Russia. In 1831 Nicholas restricted the votes in the Noble Assembly to those with over 100 serfs, leaving 21,916 voters.^[7] In 1841, landless nobles were banned from selling Serfs separate from the land.^[8] In 1845 you had to attain the 5th rank in the Table of Ranks (out of 14) to be ennobled, previously it had been the 8th rank.^[9]

Culture[link]

The official emphasis on Russian nationalism contributed to a debate on Russia's place in the world, the meaning of Russian history, and the future of Russia. One group, the Westernizers, believed that Russia remained backward and primitive and could progress only through more Europeanization. Another group, the Slavophiles, enthusiastically favored the Slavs and their culture and customs, and had a distaste for westerners and their culture and customs.

The Slavophiles viewed Slavic philosophy as a source of wholeness in Russia and were skeptical of Western rationalism and materialism. Some of them believed that the Russian peasant commune, or Mir, offered an attractive alternative to Western capitalism and could make Russia a potential social and moral savior representing thus a form of Russian messianism.

Despite the repressions of this period, Russia experienced a flowering of literature and the arts. Through the works of Aleksandr Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, and numerous others, Russian literature gained international stature and recognition. Ballet took root in Russia after its importation from France, and classical music became firmly established with the compositions of Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857).

Foreign policy[link]

Monument to Nicholas I on St. Isaac's Square

In foreign policy, Nicholas I acted as the protector of ruling legitimism and as guardian against revolution. It has often been noticed that such politicies were linked with the Metternich counter-revolutionary system, indeed Austrian special ambassador Count Karl Ludwig von Ficquelmont was well known for his wide influence over the tsar of whom he was a close friend^{[citation needed]}. His offers to suppress revolution on the European continent, trying to follow the trends of his eldest brother, Tsar Alexander I, earned him the label of gendarme of Europe. In 1825 Nicholas I was crowned and began to limit the liberties of constitutional monarchy in Congress Poland. In return, after the November Uprising broke out, in 1831 the Polish parliament deposed Nicholas as king of Poland in response to his repeated curtailment of its constitutional rights. The Tsar reacted by sending Russian troops into Poland. Nicholas crushed the rebellion, abrogated the Polish constitution, and reduced Poland to the status of a province, Privislinsky Krai, and embarked on a policy of repression towards Catholics.^[10] In the 1840s Nicholas reduced 64,000 Polish nobles to commoner status.^[11]

In 1848, when a series of revolutions convulsed Europe, Nicholas was in the forefront of reaction. In 1849 he intervened on behalf of the Habsburgs to suppress the uprising in Hungary, and he also urged Prussia not to accept a liberal constitution.

While Nicholas was attempting to maintain the status quo in Europe, he adopted an aggressive policy toward the Ottoman Empire. Nicholas I was following the traditional Russian policy of resolving the so-called Eastern Question by seeking to partition the Ottoman Empire and establish a protectorate over the Orthodox population of the Balkans, still largely under Ottoman control in the 1820s.

Russia fought a successful war against the Ottomans in 1828 and 1829. In 1833 Russia negotiated the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi with the Ottoman Empire. The major European parties mistakenly believed that the treaty contained a secret clause granting Russia the right to send warships through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. By the London Straits Convention of 1841, they affirmed Ottoman control over the straits and forbade any power, including Russia, to send warships through the straits. Based on his role in suppressing the revolutions of 1848 and his mistaken belief that he had British diplomatic support, Nicholas moved against the Ottomans, who declared war on Russia 8 October 1853. On 30 November 1853, Russian Admiral Nakhimov caught the Turkish fleet in the harbor at Sinope and destroyed the Turkish fleet.^[12]

In 1854, fearing the results of an Ottoman defeat by Russia, Britain, France, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire joined forces in the conflict known as the Crimean War to the Ottomans and Western Europeans, but known in Russia as the Eastern War, Russian: Восточная война, Vostochnaya Vojna (March 1854 – February 1856). In April 1854, Austria signed a defensive pact with Prussia.^[13] Thus, Russia found herself in a war with the whole of Europe allied against her.^[14]

Austria offered the Ottomans diplomatic support, and Prussia remained neutral, thus leaving Russia without any allies on the continent. The European allies landed in Crimea and laid siege to the well-fortified Russian base at Sevastopol. The Russians lost battles at Alma in September 1854.^[15] This loss was followed by losses in battles at Balaklava and Inkerman.^[15] After a Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) the base fell, exposing Russia's inability to defend a major fortification on its own soil. After the death of Nicholas I, Alexander II became Tsar. On 15 January 1856 the new tsar took Russia out of the war on very unfavorable terms which included the loss of a military fleet on the Black Sea.

Death[link]

Nicholas died on 2 March 1855, during the Crimean War. He caught a chill; refusing to rest and recuperate, he persisted with his usual heavy workload, leading to pneumonia and death.^[16]

Legacy[link]

There have been many damning verdicts on Nicholas' rule and legacy. At the end of his life, one of his most devoted civil servants, A.V. Nikitenko, opined that, "The main failing of the reign of Nicholas Pavlovich was that it was all a mistake."^[17] However, from time to time, some efforts are made to revive Nicholas' reputation. He believed, it is said, in his own oath and in respecting other people's rights as well as his own; witness Poland before 1831 and Hungary in 1849. It is also said that he hated serfdom at heart and would have liked to destroy it, as well as detesting the tyranny of the Baltic squires over their "emancipated" peasantry. Shortly before his death he made his son Alexander II promise to abolish serfdom.^{[citation needed]}

According to Igor Vinogradov, Nicholas and his Minister of Public Education Uvarov spread education through the Empire at all levels.

The Kiev University was founded in 1834 by Nicholas.

As a traveler in Spain, Italy, and Russia, the Frenchman Marquis de Custine said in his widely read book Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia that, inside, Nicholas was a good person, and behaved as he did only because he believed he had to. "If the Emperor, has no more of mercy in his heart than he reveals in his policies, then I pity Russia; if, on the other hand, his true sentiments are really superior to his acts, then I pity the Emperor."^[18]

Nicholas is involved in an urban myth about the railroad from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. When it was to be constructed, the engineers proposed to Nicholas that he draw the path of the future railroad on the map himself. So he is said to have taken a ruler and put one end at Moscow, the other at Saint Petersburg, and then drawn a straight line – but his finger was slightly sticking out, and this left the railroad with a small curve. In fact, this curve was added in 1877, 26 years after the railway's construction, to circumvent a steep gradient that lasted for 15 km, and interfered with the railway's functionality.^[19] This curving had to be rectified in the early 2000s when the speed of the trains running between the two cities had to be increased.

Ancestors[link]