Dutch composer and doctor of Jewish heritage.

He was born in Amsterdam in 1915. Nico was the son of Izaak Richter, a dentist, and Sara Manheim. His wife, Hetta Scheffer, was a violinist.

Richter's music education began at the school run by Agatha Deken, where he studied violin with Jacques Muller. He later continued his training under Sam Tromp, principal second violinist of the Concertgebouworkest. In 1932 he began studying medicine at the Universiteit van Amsterdam. At the same time, he was admitted to the city Conservatorium, where he studied violin with Sepha Jansen and music theory and composition with Ernest Mulder. He composed his first works during this period, including "Serenade sinfonietta I" (1934), "Concertino voor violoncel en zes instrumenten" (1935), "Trio voor fluit, altviool en gitaar" (1935) and "Strijkkwartet I" (1936).

On September 10, 1934, Richter wrote to Manuel de Falla from Amsterdam, describing himself as a great admirer of his work and asking if Falla could send him some of his compositions. He was a member of the student union Unitas, and conducted the orchestra of the Amsterdamsche Studenten Muziek Vereeniging (MUSA). In 1937 Richard Heuckeroth, director of the Nederlandsche Kameropera, commissioned him to write a chamber opera in collaboration with Hendrik Lindt. He finished his medical studies in 1939.

During the Nazi occupation, Richter joined a university resistance group and was dismissed as the MUSA conductor. Around the same time he composed "Twee stukken" for violin and piano, which he dedicated to Max Möller and his colleague Max Möller, Jr. He was arrested by the Nazis on April 16, 1942 and sent to the Vught concentration camp in January 1943. While there, he encountered fellow musicians like Pieter Dolk, trumpet player with the Residentieorkest, and Piet van den Hurk, flautist with the Utrechts Stedelijk Orkest and conductor of the NCRV-orkest (radio), and finished his last composition, "Serenade voor fluit, viool en altviool" (1945). Later, in November 1943, he was moved to the Auschwitz and Dachau camps. He was liberated by the Seventh United States Army in April 1945, and his family took him to Eindhoven, but he passed away there a few months later, on August 16, 1945.

In addition to the aforementioned works, Richter composed "Sinfonietta II" (1935) for voice and orchestra, the opera "Amorijs" (1937), "Lied" (1937) for voice and piano, and "Het lyk" (1940) for baritone and piano.

Su fondo documental se conserva en el Archief van Nico Richter del Nederlands Muziek Instituut.