Nikolai Spathari (Russian: Николай Гаврилович Спафарий, romanized: Nikolai Gavrilovich Spathari; 1636–1708), also known as Nicolae Milescu and Nicolae Milescu Spătaru (Romanian pronunciation: [nikoˈla.e miˈlesku spəˈtaru], first name also Neculai, signing in Latin as Nicolaus Spadarius Moldavo-Laco, Russian: Николае Гаврилович Милеску, romanized: Nikolaye Gavrilovich Milesku), or Spătarul Milescu-Cârnu (trans.

A boyar born in Vaslui, Milescu studied at the Patriarchate College of Istanbul and, after returning to Iași, was appointed Chancellor for the Moldavian Prince Gheorghe Ștefan.

He followed Gheorghe Ștefan 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.

[6] Milescu again left for Istanbul, where he received a letter from the Russian Tsar Aleksey I, who appointed him chief translator and diplomat at the Foreign Ministry in 1671.

Significantly, he included the feeble-minded Feodor Ivanovich, whose reign was considerably less illustrious, but who had to be mentioned in order to demonstrate dynastic continuity.

In setting forth his claim, he made reference to Anna Porphyrogenita, the sister of Byzantine emperor Basil II, who married Vladimir the Great.

Upon reaching Yeniseysk, Milescu sent one of his men, Ignatiy Milovanov, to the Chinese court in order to inform the Kangxi Emperor about the purpose of their embassy.

Milescu followed the same route to the Chinese border, and established his camp on the Nen River in Heilongjiang, waiting for news from Milovanov.

[10] In his road journal, later published under the title Travels through Siberia to the Chinese borders, Milescu correctly described the middle course of the Ob, Irtysh, and Angara rivers.

His idea that there was a vast mountain range stretching from the Baikal to the Okhotsk Sea, although fundamentally wrong, was widely believed by many geographers until the mid-20th century.

Bogdan Petriceicu-Hasdeu believed that Milescu was the author of the first translation of the Bible into Romanian, the Bucharest edition (printed in 1688, during the rule of Prince Șerban Cantacuzino).