Sergei Nilus

Sergei Nilus, born on August twenty-fifth, eighteen sixty-two, was a multifaceted Russian figure known for his roles as a writer, jurist, counterfeiter, and publisher. He is often remembered as a religious writer and a self-proclaimed mystic, delving into themes of spirituality and prophecy.

His most notable work, titled Velikoe v malom i antikhrist, kak blizkaja politicheskaja vozmozhnost. Zapiski pravoslavnogo (translated as The Great within the Small and Antichrist, an Imminent Political Possibility. Notes of an Orthodox Believer), was published in nineteen hundred and three. This book discusses the anticipated arrival of the Antichrist and is particularly infamous for including the pseudohistorical text Protocols of the Elders of Zion in its second edition, released in nineteen hundred and five. This marked the first complete publication of the text in Russia, following an earlier abridged version that had appeared in the newspaper Znamya.

Throughout his career, Nilus authored several additional works, primarily focusing on eschatological themes and the concept of the Antichrist, with publications spanning from nineteen hundred and eight to nineteen hundred and seventeen. His writings gained notoriety for their controversial nature, particularly after the Russian Revolution, when they were deemed anti-Soviet propaganda and subsequently banned in the Soviet Union.