Nicolas Notovitch

Born in 1858 in the Russian Empire, Nicolas Notovitch is generally identified as Shulim or Nikolai Aleksandrovich Notovich. He became known as a journalist, writer, and traveler, and later wrote under the French form of his name, Nicolas Notovitch.

He is remembered above all for The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ, first published in French in 1894. In it, he claimed that while traveling in Ladakh he learned of a manuscript at Hemis Monastery describing the lost years of Jesus, presented there as "Issa." The book drew immediate attention because of its dramatic story and its challenge to familiar Christian history.

Notovitch's fame has lasted largely because of the controversy around that claim. Many scholars and investigators rejected his account, and the book is now usually discussed as a historical curiosity rather than a reliable source. Even so, his writing remains an interesting example of the mix of travel writing, religious speculation, and sensational publishing that captivated readers at the end of the nineteenth century.