The most famous of the Russian chroniclers was Nestor, a monk of the Kyiv Pechersk Monastery in the second half of the 11th - the beginning of the 12th centuries. The early history of the Russian state is known thanks to the Russian Primary Chronicle authored by Nestor.

 Nestor was born in 1064. At the age of 17 he joined the Pechora Monastery as a monk. Throughout his life Nestor worked on self-improvement, both spiritually and intellectually. He had outstanding mental capacities and respected various aspects of knowledge, in spite of the fact that the church was  very conservative in this regard.

The Primary Chronicle was the main work by Nestor, who also authored a number of other well-known historical treatises. Nestor took up the Chronicle, being already a famous writer in 1112. it is not just a list of events year after year, but an extensive historical and geographical study about the Slavic tribes, the foundation of the Russian state, and its first princes. In the beginning Nestor connects the history of all the Slavs with the world history and brightly pictures the geography of Russia and means of communication from Russia to Byzantium, to Western Europe and Asia. Throughout the Primary Chronicle its author traces the destinies of all Slavic peoples that inhabited the area from the Oka River to River Elba, from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea.

The name of Nestor is forever enscribed in the history of  Russia. The chronicler lived in hard times. It was the time of internecine wars and attacks by nomads. The Pechersky Monastery, where Nestors lived, was ruined by nomads in 1096. It was a hard blow to Nestor and yet he managed to go forward. Nestor the Chronicler died in 1114 and was laid down to rest in Anthony Pechersky Caves. Nestor is venerated by the Russian Orthodox Church.