Abstract: The subject of this research is the early life of M. O. Menshikov – one of the ideologists of the Russian nationalism of the early XX century and leading publicist of the largest all-Russian newspaper “Novoe Vremya”. The goal consists in full reconstruction of the conditions of his childhood and early youth. The methods of deduction, induction, comparative and prospective analysis were used for reconstructing separate circumstances of the initial stage of development of Menshikov’s personality and holistic biographical picture. The synthesis of objective analysis of the facts with subjective assessments of the events described by Menshikov himself in his diaries and articles allowed depicting the external circumstances of his youth, as well as reconstruct the peculiarities of development of his inner world and social reflection. The conclusion is made that a range of the core themes of Menshikov's publicistic writing, which were covered in the newspaper “Nedelya” and later in “Novoe Vremya”, and ultimately brought him popularity, take roots in his childhood and early youth: “family relations”, “upbringing and education”, “pursuit of belonging”, “finding happiness through harmony with the world”. These topics were covered by Menshikov based on the rich life experience, a long path from the poor peasant family to the cadet of Naval Engineering School in Kronstadt. The fact that he was able to understand the problems of the commoners made him closer to the reader. The provided biography is currently the most detailed study of the early life of M. O. Menshikov's; many facts are introduced for the first time. The article also presents additional empirical material on the history of childhood, elementary and secondary education in Russia of the late XIX century.