Michael Nicholson, 1937 - 2016

We have learnt, with regret, of the death of Michael Nicholson on 11 December. Michael was a television journalist who studied at the University of Leicester.

Michael passed away while on a cruise with his wife, Diana, on 11 December 2016. He was 79.

Michael was renowned as one of the world’s most travelled and well respected television foreign correspondents.

After graduating from the University in 1962 with a degree in Social Sciences, Michael pursued a journalism career that spanned over five decades and saw him gain worldwide respect as a dedicated war correspondent.

He joined ITN in 1964 and took on the role of senior foreign correspondent between 1989 and 1999. Michael was working on a story about children trapped by shelling in Sarajevo in 1992 when he first met nine-year-old Natasha Mihalicic, whom he and his wife Diana later adopted in the UK. He went on to write a book, Natasha’s Story, about the events of his time in Sarajevo and his close relationship with Natasha. The book was used as the inspiration for the 1997 award-winning film Welcome to Sarajevo.

Michael braved 18 war zones during his long career, picking up a host of awards along the way. He won numerous British and international awards for his reports in Biafra, Cyprus and Vietnam, and was twice named the Royal Television Society Journalist of the Year. In 1991, Michael was awarded an OBE for his reporting of the Gulf War.

In addition to his wife and daughter Natasha, Nicholson is survived by two sons, Thomas and William, and a daughter, Ana, whom he rescued from the slums in Brazil in 1996.

In a recent interview with The Times, Sir Trevor McDonald was quoted as saying that Nicholson ‘almost single-handedly changed the face of TV news reporting’ in his ten years at ITN.

Our sincere condolences go out to Michael’s family and friends.