Archbishop Chrysanthus of Athens ( el, Αρχιεπίσκοπος Χρύσανθος; 1881 – 28 September 1949), born Charilaos Filippidis (), was the

Archbishop of Athens and all Greece The Archbishopric of Athens ( el, Ιερά Αρχιεπισκοπή Αθηνών) is a Greek Orthodox archiepiscopal see based in the city of Athens, Greece. It is the senior see of Greece, and the seat of the autocephalous Church of Greece. It ...

between 1938 and 1941. He was born in 1881 in

Gratini Gratini ( el, Γρατινή) is a village of Rhodope regional unit in northern Greece, some 13 km north of Komotini. It is part of the municipal unit of Komotini. History The village first appears in the late Byzantine era, as the town of G ...

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

, then part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. In 1903 he became a deacon and began his service in the Metropolis of Trebizond (modern day

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...

) as a teacher at the Secondary School of the city, where he taught religious classes. He studied theology at the school of Halki then transferred to

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

in Switzerland and then to

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 1913 he became the Metropolitan of Trebizond. The events of the First World War greatly impacted his life. In April 1916 – just ahead of the Russian invasion – he was handed control of the city by the local Ottoman administration. The Russians kept him as governor, even though he helped the local Turkish population return to the city and re-establish their institutions – to their dismay. During the war he grew in favour of an independent

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

, which would protect its different ethnic groups. At the 1919 Paris Peace Conference he proposed the creation of the

Republic of Pontus The Republic of Pontus ( el, Δημοκρατία του Πόντου, ''Dimokratía tou Pódou'') was a proposed Pontic Greek state on the southern coast of the Black Sea. Its territory would have encompassed much of historical Pontus and today ...

. For this he was condemned to death by the Turkish nationalist forces in 1920. He could not return to his post in Trabzon. He became archbishop of Athens in 1938 and held the post until he resigned in the aftermath of the

German invasion of Greece The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usu ...

, after refusing to swear-in the collaborationist government of

Georgios Tsolakoglou Georgios Tsolakoglou ( el, Γεώργιος Τσολάκογλου; April 1886 – 22 May 1948) was an officer of the Hellenic Army who became the first Prime Minister of the Greek collaborationist government during the Axis occupation in 1941� ...

. He was succeeded by Damaskinos. He died on 28 September 1949 in Athens.

External links

Chrysanthos Phillipidis
, Pontos World

Ιερά Μητρόπολις Πατρών 1881 births 1949 deaths Archbishops of Athens and All Greece Greek theologians 20th-century Eastern Orthodox archbishops Theological School of Halki alumni Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) Greek Resistance members Bishops of Trebizond People from Komotini {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub