Nicolae Milescu

Nicolae Milescu
1998 stamp
Born	1636 Vaslui
Died	1708 (aged 71–72) Moscow

Nikolai Spathari (Romanian pronunciation: [nikoˈla.e miˈlesku spəˈtaru], first name also Neculai, signing in Latin as Nicolao Spadario Moldavo-Lacone, also known as Spătarul Milescu-Cârnu "Chancellor Milescu the Snub-nosed", in Russian: Николай Гаврилович Спафарий – Nikolai Gavrilovich Spathari or Николае Гаврилович Милеску – Nikolaye Gavrilovich Milescu; 1636–1708) was a Moldavian writer, diplomat and traveler. Milescu spoke nine languages: Romanian, Latin, both Attic and Modern Greek, French, German, Turkish, Swedish and Russian. One of his grandsons was the Spătar (Сhancellor) Yuri Stefanovich, who came to Russia in 1711 with prince Dimitrie Cantemir.

His prosonym Moldavo-Lacone (Moldavan-Laconian) is thought to be an indication of a possible Greek origin. The name Milescu was adopted by his parents when they settled in Milesti. Prof. L. Turdeanu-Cartojan discovered at Oxford his autobiography, written in Greek (Λαζάρου, Lazarou).

A boyar born in Vaslui, Milescu studied at the Patriarchate College of Istanbul and, after returning to Iaşi, was appointed Chancellor for the Moldavian Prince Gheorghe Ştefan. In 1660–1664, he acted as representative of his country with its Ottoman overlord, and then as envoy to Berlin and . He followed Gheorghe Ştefan in his exile to Stockholm and Szczecin (1664–1667) and visited Louis XIV's France in an attempt to get the King to assist him in creating an anti-Ottoman alliance.

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