# List of people from Nizhny Novgorod

This is a list of notable people who have lived in Nizhny Novgorod (1932–1990: Gorky), Russia.

## Born in Nizhny Novgorod
### 1301–1800

* Macarius of Unzha (1349–1444), Russian Orthodox saint
* Dmitry Pozharsky (1577–1642), Rurikid prince, led Russian forces against Polish invaders in 1611–1612 towards the end of the Time of Troubles
* Kuzma Minin (end of 16th century–1616), Russian National Hero of 1612
* Ivan Kulibin (1735–1818), mechanic and inventor
* Sergei Trubetskoy (1790–1860), one of the organizers of the Decembrist movement
* Nikolai Lobachevsky (1792–1856), mathematician and geometer

### 1801–1850

* Nikolai Martynov (1815–1875), army officer who fatally shot the poet Mikhail Lermontov in a duel on 27 July 1841
* Pavel Melnikov (1818–1883), writer, ethnographer
* Vasily Vasilyev (1818–1900), sinologist of the Victorian era
* Nikolay Dobrolyubov (1836–1861), literary critic, journalist, poet and revolutionary democrat
* Pyotr Boborykin (1836–1921), writer, playwright, and journalist
* Mily Balakirev (1837–1910), composer, head of The Five
* Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburgsky (1838–1898), painter
* German Lopatin (1845–1918), revolutionary, journalist and writer
* Raphael von Koeber (1848–1923), German-Russian teacher of philosophy at the Tokyo Imperial University in Japan

### 1851–1900

* Mikhail Matyushin (1861–1934), painter and composer
* Constantin Kousnetzoff (1863–1936), painter
* Vladimir Steklov (1864–1926), mathematician, mechanician and physicist
* Anna Ulyanova (1864–1935), revolutionary and Soviet stateswoman
* Zdzisław Lubomirski (1865–1943), Polish aristocrat, landowner, lawyer, conservative politician and social activist
* Dmitriy Sirotkin (1865–1946), twice city head, millionaire
* Aleksandr Ulyanov (1866–1887), revolutionary and older brother of Vladimir Lenin
* Maxim Gorky (Alexei Maximovich Peshkov, 1868–1936), writer and political activist
* Ivan Bubnov (1872–1919), marine engineer and designer of submarines for the Imperial Russian Navy
* Dmitry Nadyozhny (1873–1945), commander in the Russian Imperial Army who later joined the Red Army
* Alexander Samoylovich (1880–1938), Orientalist-Turkologist
* Leonid Vesnin (1880–1933), leading light of Constructivist architecture
* Sergei Chetverikov (1880–1959), biologist and geneticist
* Mikhail Tetyaev (1882–1956), tectonic geologist
* Alexander Krein (1883–1951), composer
* Zinovy Peshkov (1884–1966), Russian-born French general and diplomat
* Yakov Sverdlov (1885–1919), Bolshevik party leader and chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee
* Pyotr Nesterov (1887–1914), military pilot, aircraft technical designer and aerobatics pioneer
* Issay Dobrowen (1891–1953), Russian-Norwegian pianist, composer and conductor
* Nikolay Kolosovsky (1891–1954), economic geographer, economist
* Léon Zack (1892–1980), painter and sculptor
* Nikolai Bulganin (1895–1975), soviet political, Prime Minister (1955–1958), Marshal of the Soviet Union
* Catherine Doherty (1896–1985), Russian Canadian Roman Catholic social worker
* Anatoly Marienhof (1897–1962), poet, novelist and playwright
* Aleksandr Formozov (1899–1973), biologist and environmentalist

### 1901–1930

* Sergey Lebedev (1902–1974), scientist in the fields of electrical engineering and computer science, and designer of the first Soviet computers
* Vladimir Varankin (1902–1938), writer of literature in Esperanto, instructor of western European history
* Andrei Fajt (1903–1976), film actor
* Grigory Gadza (1904–1961), pianist, Moscow Conservatory professor
* Alexander Golovanov (1904–1975), pilot, Marshal of Aviation
* Nikolay Bogolyubov (1909–1992), theoretical physicist, mathematician
* Boris Mokrousov (1909–1968), composer
* David Ashkenazi (1915–1997), pianist, accompanist and composer
* Nikolai Khokhlov (1922–2007), KGB officer who defected to the United States in 1953
* Yevgeniy Yevstigneyev (1926–1992), soviet actor
* Margarita Nazarova (1926–2005), actress, circus performer
* Yevgeniy Chazov (1929), physician

### 1931–1950

* Igor Maslennikov (1931), film director
* Valentin Morkovkin (1933–1999), rower
* Konstantin Kharchev (1934), politician, diplomat and ambassador
* Leonid Volkov (1934), ice hockey player
* Igor Zhukov (1936), pianist, conductor and sound engineer
* Vladimir Ashkenazy (1937), Russian-born pianist and conductor of Icelandic and Swiss citizenship
* Yuri Golov (1937–2014), Russian footballer
* German Sveshnikov (1937–2003), Soviet fencer
* Viktor Konovalenko (1938–1996), ice hockey goaltender
* Sergei Novikov (1938–2024), mathematician
* Mikhail Rabinovich (1941), influential physicist
* Pavel Lednyov (1943–2010), modern pentathlete and Olympic champion
* Valeri Zykov (1944), football player
* Vladimir Denisov (1947), fencer
* Gariy Napalkov (1948), ski jumper
* Tatyana Averina (1950–2001), speed skater

### 1951–1970

* Sergey Mitin (1951), Governor of Novgorod Oblast since 2007
* Vladimir Kovin (1954), ice hockey player
* Alexander Skvortsov (1954), ice hockey player
* Galina Kakovkina (1957), painter
* Serhii Plokhii (1957), professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University
* Mikhail Varnakov (1957), ice hockey player
* Gennadi Maslyayev (1958), professional football coach and player
* Sergey Ryabtsev (1958), plays violin and provides backing vocals for the Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello
* Tatyana Shvyganova (1960), field hockey player and Olympic medalist
* Evgeny Sheyko (1962), conductor
* Yevgeny Erastov (1963), writer
* Valery Rozov (1964), BASE jumper
* Ilya Segalovich (1964–2013), co-founder of Russian search engine Yandex
* Andrey Sigle (1964), film producer, film music composer and musician
* Maya Usova (1964), ice dancer
* Natalia Pankova (1965), artist, art manager
* Dimitri Konyshev (1966), former road bicycle racer
* Anatoly Moskvin (1966), former linguist, philologist, historian, and serial body snatcher
* Alexander Baburin (1967), Russian-Irish Grandmaster of chess
* Igor Egorov (1968), football referee and former player
* Dmitri Cheryshev (1969), footballer
* Alexei Ivanov (1969), writer
* Vladimir Kurayev (1969), professional footballer
* Sergei Sorokin (1969), ice hockey player
* Valeri Popovitch (1970), football striker
* Alyaksandr Taykow (1970), footballer

### 1971–1980

* Vladislav Leontyev (1971), crime figure
* Dmitry Mazunov (1971), table tennis player
* Vladimir Kireyev (1972), football player
* Natalya Sadova (1972), discus thrower
* Aleksei Gerasimov (1973), professional footballer
* Andrej Krementschouk (1973), photographer
* Albert Oskolkov (1973), professional footballer
* Alexander Guskov (1976), professional ice hockey defenceman
* Sergei Nakariakov (1977), virtuoso trumpeter
* Svetlana Ganina (1978), table tennis player
* Evgeny Aleshin (1979), swimmer
* Pyotr Bystrov (1979), association footballer
* Artem Chubarov (1979), professional ice hockey player
* Natalya Bochkareva (1980), stage and film actress, television presenter
* Irina Kotikhina (1980), professional table tennis player

### 1981–1990

* Nikolay Kruglov Jr. (1981), biathlete
* Igor Yamushev (1981), former Russian professional football player
* Dmitry Aydov (1982), professional association football player
* Vladimir Gusev (1982), professional road racing cyclist
* Yekaterina Kondratyeva (1982), sprinter
* Natalia Vodianova (1982), supermodel, philanthropist and occasional film actress
* Ilya Korotkov (1983), javelin thrower
* Sergey Shiryayev (1983), cross country skier
* Ivan Usenko (1983), Belarusian ice hockey defenceman
* Mikhail Tyulyapkin (1984), professional ice hockey defenceman
* Ekaterina Vilkova (1984), actress of film, theater and television
* Dmitri Kosmachev (1985), professional ice hockey player
* Mikhail Varnakov (1985), professional ice hockey player
* Maria Borodakova (1986), volleyball player
* Denis Kornilov (1986), ski jumper
* Denis Kozhukhin (1986), pianist, winner of the Vendome Prize in Lisbon in 2009
* Svetlana Mironova (1986), orienteering competitor
* Vera Ulyakina (1986), volleyball player
* Anne Vyalitsyna (1986), supermodel
* Artem Lobov (1986), UFC Fighter
* Igor Levit (1987), Russian-German pianist
* Ilya Maksimov (1987), football midfielder
* Ruslan Zakharov (1987), short-track speed-skater
* Nikolai Zhilyayev (1987), footballer
* Vladimir Galuzin (1988), professional ice hockey player
* Valeri Zhukov (1988), professional ice hockey player
* Denis Cheryshev (1990), footballer, Valencia CF forward
* Pavel Karelin (1990–2011), ski jumper
* Dmitri Radchuk (1990), ice hockey player

### 1991–2000

* Dmitriy Kokarev (1991), swimmer
* Alexander Sharychenkov (1991), professional ice hockey goaltender
* Daniil Trifonov (1991), concert pianist and composer
* Dmitri Karasyov (1992), professional football player
* Ekaterina Pushkash (1992), ice dancer
* Mikhail Maksimochkin (1993), ski jumper
* Rustam Yatimov (1998), professional football player
* Danila Chechyotkin (2000), football player

### 21st century

* Anton Yefremov (2003), football player
* Daniil Shedko (2003), activist
* Dariia Sergaeva (2004), rhythmic gymnast

## Lived in Nizhny Novgorod

* Damaskin (Rudnev) (1737–1795), Russian Orthodox Church bishop
* Alexander Dubček (1921–1992), Czechoslovak politician, in Nizhny Novgorod 1933–1938
* Nikolay Kruglov (born 1950), biathlete
* Nina Makarova (1908–1976), composer
* Anatoly Moskvin (1968), academic and linguist; arrested in 2011 after the bodies of 26 mummified young women were discovered in his home
* Andrei Rumyantsev (born 1969), professional footballer
* Aleksandr Shchukin (1969–2000), professional footballer (1987–1993: FC Lokomotiv Gorky)
* Igor Shelushkov (born 1946), mental calculator; postgraduate at Gorki Polytechnic Institute (now Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University)

## Exiles to Nizhny Novgorod

As a closed city that was inaccessible to foreign observers, this was a city for internal exiles.
* Andrei Sakharov (1980–1989), eminent Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist, 1975 Nobel Peace Prize winner
* Egidio Gennari (1980–1989), Italian exile who left Italy in 1926 due to the repression of the Fascist government and lived in the city