Nicolai Himona

Nikolaos Himonas (Greek: Νικόλαος Χειμώνας. Russian: Николай Петрович Химона; 25 September 1864 – 1 August 1929) was a painter and art teacher of Greek ancestry who was born in Russia and spent most of his life there. His name may also be transcribed in English as Heimonas or Cheimonas.

Biography

He was born in Yevpatoria. His father was a retired army sergeant from the Greek Battalion of Balaklava who had fought in the defense of Sebastopol during the Crimean War. His mother was descended from the Pontic Greeks who received asylum in Russia after the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74. He grew up in Yalta, where the family was engaged in commercial enterprises, and received a well-rounded education.

Later, he attended the Saint Petersburg Art and Industry Academy then, in 1889, began auditing classes at the Imperial Academy of Arts, where his teachers included Ivan Shishkin and Arkhip Kuindzhi, with whom he became a lifelong friend. Two years later, he made his first trip to Greece and stayed for a year. He taught painting at the "Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts" from 1897 until 1919.

Leaving Russia In 1919, during the Russian Civil War, Olga was denounced and arrested by the new government for transferring messages written by political prisoners. but this apparently derives from his frequent visits there to exhibit, and to confusion with Olga who did, in fact, die there in 1963.

Selected scenes from Greece