Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich (19 October 1853 – April 3, 1881) was a Russian revolutionary and rocket pioneer of Serbian origin who took part in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II as the main explosive expert for Narodnaya Volya. He was a distant cousin of revolutionary Victor Serge.

Kibalchich was born in the town of Korop, Krolevetsky Uyezd, Chernigov Governorate (now Ukraine) in 1853 into a clerical family as the son of an Orthodox parish priest of Serbian origin. He entered a gymnasium in 1864 but was later admitted to a seminary. He returned to secondary school and finished with a silver medal several years later.

In 1871, he entered St Petersburg Institute of Railway Engineers, and in 1873, he entered Saint Petersburg Emperor Military Medical Academy to study medicine, additionally working on experiments into pulsed rocket propulsion.

In October 1875, Kibalchich was arrested for lending a prohibited book to a peasant named Prytulya. He spent 3 years in prison before being sentenced to 2 months imprisonment.

He went on to join Narodnaya Volya in 1878, becoming their main explosives expert.

From February 28 to March 1, 1881 [O.S], Kibalchich and his assistants, Fleet Lieutenant Sukhanov and Mikhail Grachevsky, prepared four explosive projectiles that were used in the assassination of Alexander II. Kibalchich was arrested on March 17, 1881.

In his statement to the Special Committee of the Senate, V.N. Gerard noted that when his men came to see Kibalchich as his appointed counsel for the defense, they were surprised to find his mind occupied with things that had no bearing on the trial. He seemed to be immersed in research on some aeronautic missile and he greatly desired the opportunity to write down the calculations involved in the discovery.

In a note written in his prison cell, Kibalchich proposed a manned jet air-navigating apparatus. He examined the design of a gunpowder-powered rocket engine, controlling the flight by changing the engine's angle, and his design is dated March 23.