Nestor the Chronicler

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Saint Nestor the Chronicler
Iconographic depiction of St. Nestor the Chronicler, 1919, Viktor Vasnetsov (St Volodymyr's Cathedral, Kyiv).
Born	c. 1056 Kiev, Kievan Rus
Died	c. 1114 Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, Kiev, Kievan Rus

Nestor the Chronicler or Nestor the Hagiographer^[1] (Church Slavonic: Нестор Летописец, romanized: Nestor Letopisec; c. 1056 – c. 1114) was a monk from the Kievan Rus who is known to have written two saints' lives:^[1] the Life of the Venerable Theodosius of the Kiev Caves and the Account about the Life and Martyrdom of the Blessed Passion Bearers Boris and Gleb.^[2]

Traditional historiography has also attributed to him the Primary Chronicle (PVL), the most revered chronicle of Kievan Rus', which earned him the nickname "the Chronicler".^[3][4] But several modern scholars have concluded he was not the author, because the Chronicle and known works of Nestor barely align, and frequently contradict each other in terms of style and contents.^[3][4] Given the authorship controversy, some scholars prefer calling him Nestor "the Hagiographer", to be identified with the two hagiographies which they do agree that he did write.^[4]