Nikolay's father, Gavriil Nikolayevich Slavyanov, was part of the Volyn regiment, where he participated in the Crimean War, during the Battle of Malakoff (part of the Siege of Sebastopol) against French forces. His father retired in 1856 for health reasons. Nikolay's mother, Sofia Alekseyevna ("née" Shakhovskaya), was the daughter of a Kursk landowner.