Nicolai (surname)

Nicolai is a Frisian (north part of Holland) surname, and may refer to:

In music

 * Philipp Nicolai (1556–1608), German Lutheran pastor, poet, and composer
 * Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (1810 – 1849) German composer, conductor, and founder of the Vienna Philharmonic
 * Bruno Nicolai (1926–1991), Italian film music composer, orchestra director, and musical editor
 * Carsten Nicolai (aka Alva Noto; born 1965), German sound artist

In literature

 * Christoph Friedrich Nicolai (1733–1811), German writer and bookseller

In other fields

 * Anton Nicolai (died 1474), Polish Roman Catholic bishop
 * Ernst Anton Nicolai (1722–1802), German physician and chemist
 * Ernst August Nicolai (1800–1875), German physician and naturalist
 * Friedrich Bernhard Gottfried Nicolai (1793–1846), German astronomer
 * Hermann Nicolai (born 1952), German theoretical physicist
 * Norica Nicolai (born 1958), Romanian lawyer and politician
 * William S. Nicolai (born ?), U.S. inventor and entrepreneur