Nilus Archbishop (Nickolay Isakovich) (1799–1874) – archpriest of Russian Orthodox Church, missionary, translator, specialist in Buddhism.
He graduated from the St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy; in 1838-1853, he served as Archbishop of the Irkutsk Eparchy – from Yenissei to the Pacific Ocean. He made thirteen missionary travels to Yakutian and Buryatia. He was Honourary Member of the Universities of St. Petersburg and Kazan’. And was a prototype for a character of the novel ‘At the Edge of the World’ by N. S. Leskov. Together with a conversed Buddhist Lama, and then Priest Nickolay Dorzheev, he translated the Holy Script into Mongol-Buryat language, also they translated a number of liturgical and other ecclesiastical texts: 1) Beginning of Christian Discipline (1858); 2) Book of Liturgy (1858); 3) Book of Rites (1858); 4) Book of Hours (1861); 5) Sunday Service (1862); 6) Irmologion (1863); 7) Book of Prayers (1864); 8) Octoechos (Liturgy) (1866); 9) Service for Festival Days (1867); 10) Lenten Triodion (1869); 11) Pentecostarion (1871); 12) Complete Menaion (1872); 13) Apostle; 14) Gospel; 15) Psalter; 16) Book of Praying Songs; 17) Service for St Innocent of Irkutsk; 18) Service for St Nickolas; 19) Service for Blessed Nilus. The first twelve translations were published. As reviewers and correctors, he attracted such specialists as Prof. of St. Petersburg University A. V. Popov, and C. F. Golstunsky, and Director of the Court Singers Chapel Composer A. F. Lvov. He also published his own work ‘Buddhism in Siberia’ (St. Petersburg, 1858) – for a long time it has been a sample of deep and comprehensive study of religion. His ‘Travel Notes from Siberia’ (Yaroslavl’, 1874) became one of the outstanding ecclesiastic travel literature of the nineteenth century.