nesterov was born on 15 february 1887 in nizhny novgorod, into the family of an army officer, a cadet corps teacher. in august 1904, he left the military school in nizhny novgorod and went to mikhailov artillery academy in st petersburg, he became a second lieutenant and served in the 9th east siberian artillery brigade in vladivostok. by the laws of that time, an officer who married before the age of 28 had to contribute a so-called ‘reserve’ to the state treasury – a deposit of 5,000 rubles to provide for his family in the event of his death. the only exception was made for officers who served in the far east; as nesterov did not have the money, he took his young wife to the far east.