Metropolitan Leontius (Leonty, secular name Leonid Ieronimovich Turkevich, russian: Леонид Иеронимович Туркевич; August 8, 1876 – May 14, 1965) was the

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

of the North American Diocese of the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

from 1950 until his death in 1965. He was succeeded by Metropolitan

Irenaeus (Bekish) Metropolitan Ireney (Patron Saint St. Irenaeus of Lyons, secular name John Bekish, born Ivan Dmitriyevich Bekish, russian: Иван Дмитриевич Бекиш, pl, Jan Bekisz; 2 October 1892, Mezhirech, Lublin Province (now Poland) – 18 Ma ...

. Leonid Ieronimovich Turkevich was ordained to the priesthood in 1905, and succeeded his father as parish priest of Kremenetz. He was transferred, along with his family, to the United States in October 1906 and became the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the newly established Orthodox

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

(St. Platon's) in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. Fr. Leonid represented the American diocese of the Russian Church at the All-Russian Church Council of 1917–1918 in Moscow, Russia. Fr. Leonid, whose wife had died in 1925, was consecrated Bishop of Chicago in 1933. He was given the name Leonty during his

tonsure Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...

as a monastic. Archbishop Leonty was elected Metropolitan of the diocese nearly unanimously during the 8th All-American Sobor, held in December 1950. He succeeded Metropolitan

Theophilus Pashkovsky Theophilus (Pashkovsky), born Feodor (Theodore) Nikolaevich Pashkovsky (russian: Фёдор Николаевич Пашковский) and commonly known as Metropolitan Theophilus (February 6, 1874, in Kyiv – June 27, 1950, in San Francisco), w ...

, who died in June of that year. In July 1988, Metropolitan Leonty's granddaughter, Tamara Turkevich Skvir, donated 50 bound volumes of diaries and papers covering the period from 1906—1964 to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. The collection also included approximately 2,000 poems as well as other miscellaneous memoranda and historical documents. He had five children. John Turkevich (1907 – 1998) was Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry at Princeton.

Anthony L. Turkevich Anthony Leonid Turkevich (July 23, 1916 – September 7, 2002) was an American radiochemist who was the first to determine the composition of the Moon's surface using an alpha scattering spectrometer on the Surveyor 5 mission in 1967. Early ...

(1916 – 2002) was an American radiochemist. Nicholas L. Turkevich (1918 – 2007) was an international advertising executive.

Notes and references

1876 births 1965 deaths Primates of the Orthodox Church in America Married Eastern Orthodoxy clergy {{Eastern-Orthodoxy-bio-stub