NiColas Emanoff

Architect, engineer

Born in Novocherkassk on 25 October 1897 to Angelica and Nicholas Emanoff. Married Kirienna Pell-Gorsky in Shanghai in 1931. Lived at 316 Route Vallon and 1260 Rue Lafayette.

In 1922–1923, Emanof was assistant architect at the newly founded architecture studio of C. H. Gonda’s studio. During this time, the studio completed its first project – the remodelling of the Lane, Crawford and Co. store on Nanking Road.

In 1924–1926, Emanoff worked at Davies & Brooke, and in 1928–1932 he was with Palmer & Turner. In 1933–1935, he joined E. M. Gran at the expanding Davies, Brooke and Gran. Emanoff was closely involved in the design of the Commercial Bank of China (later known as the Development Building), designed by Davies, Brooke & Gran.

Emanoff participated in the construction of St. Nicholas' Russian Orthodox Church (1932), on Rue Corneille, and was secretary of the Russian Engineering Society in 1934. 

In 1936–1937, he worked at Unit Furniture Co. and Modern Homes, the company of Richard and Rudolf Paulick ("interior architects and designers, furniture, decorations, interior woodwork"). 

Owned and operated the Cathay Construction Co. in 1940–1941; his wife K. A. Emanoff was running the Cathay Handicrafts. In 1940, together with another Russian, E. L. Gindper, Emanoff founded the Associated Architects 联益建筑公. The company authored several buildings – the Friendship Apartments (1941), the modernist villa on Route Ferguson (1941) and T. Z. Woo's residence on Bubbling Well Road (1942). Another architect partner in the firm was C. Malinovsky.

In the 1940s, Emanoff was Secretary of the Foreign Affairs and Migrations section of the Russian Emigrants' Association; he was suspected of being a Soviet agent.

In December 1948, Nicholas Emanoff and wife Kira left China for Brazil.