Penza merchant Pavel Fyodorovich Nikolaev was born on January 11, 1867, in the family of Fyodor Sergeyevich and Matrona Dmitrievna Nikolaev. His father, a merchant of the 2nd guild, was likely from Spassky district of Tambov province. In 1869, he was engaged in timber trade in Kerensk, and in 1871, he moved with his family from Spassk to Penza. In Penza, Fyodor Sergeyevich settled in Peski, where he possibly acquired a house. By 1874, he was already listed among Penza merchants, and in 1895, he was part of the 2nd merchant guild, trading various goods. In his later years, he specialized in selling fish and mushrooms, owning his own shop. His property was valued at 47 thousand rubles. In 1913, his widow, Matrena Dmitrievna, 69 years old, was listed as merchant number 14. Fyodor Nikolaev was buried in the Christmas church on Troitskaya, and he was interred at the Mironositskoye cemetery.

Fyodor Sergeyevich's son, Pavel Fyodorovich, continued his father's business, moving from the petty bourgeoisie to the 2nd merchant guild. The fish trade developed successfully, and in 1899, the Penza City Duma granted him and merchant N. M. Tikhonov a place in Bazar Square for the construction of trading stalls for 24 years. This location was particularly advantageous for fish trading due to the underground river Shelakhovka, whose waters were used for reservoirs and refrigerators. Over time, the building at Moscow, 73, became known as the fish building or fish passage, where Pavel Fyodorovich traded until 1917. The building has survived to this day, although it has undergone changes. It now houses a shopping center and food enterprises.

On June 2, 1889, Pavel Fyodorovich married Yevdokiya Ivanovna Tersnovskaya from Penza, with the wedding taking place at the Kazan church in Peski. They had sons Anatoly, Yevgeny, Vladimir, Vyacheslav, and daughters Faina, Antonina, Zoya, and Sofia.

In the early 1900s, Pavel Fyodorovich acquired a house on Rozhdestvenskaya Street, 18 (now Gorky Street), where his children spent their childhood. It was a one-story wooden house with several rooms, decorated with carvings resembling fish scales. In 1918, the house was municipalized and valued at 7470 rubles, and in 2011, it was demolished, depriving descendants of a piece of old Penza.

After 1917, Pavel Fyodorovich worked as a gardener at the Penza Housing Department. In the summer of 1919, he was arrested, accused of aiding a counter-revolutionary organization led by Lieutenant Volosov, allegedly planning to overthrow the Soviet government. On July 17, 1919, the Cheka sentenced him to the highest penalty, and on July 18, he was executed in Penza. It is believed that the execution took place in the Penza provincial prison, but the burial site remains unknown.