Nikon of Karoulia

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.

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]

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]