Archimandrite Nikolai Alekseev (January 21, 1869 – April 23, 1952) was a Russian Greek-Catholic priest.

Biography

Alekseev was born on January 21, 1869, in

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus ne ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, into the family of a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. He studied at the gymnasium and the Swedish

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the th ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. In 1897 he was tonsured a monk and ordained a deacon in the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. In 1899 he was sent as a representative of the Russian Orthodox mission in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

and was ordained to the priesthood in 1901. From 1904 to 1906 he was forced to take a break from his work at the mission because of the outbreak of

Russian-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

. Alekseev, along with other Russian clergy, left Seoul. They found a temporary refuge in neighboring

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The missionaries moved to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, where the Beijing branch of the Orthodox mission was located. Some time later, Alekseev was invited to continue his ministry in

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky ( rus, Петропавловск-Камчатский, a=Петропавловск-Камчатский.ogg, p=pʲɪtrɐˈpavləfsk kɐmˈtɕatskʲɪj) is a city and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultur ...

, being ordained an abbot. During the Civil War deputized Bishop Nestor of Kamchatka went to China. Alekseev moved to

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

, from where he later moved to

Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...

, China. In 1925 the synod of bishops of the

Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (russian: Ру́сская Правосла́вная Це́рковь Заграни́цей, lit=Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, translit=Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov' Zagranitsey), also called Ru ...

(ROCOR) elevated him to the rank of

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...

and transferred him to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. There, Alekseev expressed a desire to join the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

; in 1927 he settled in the Franciscan monastery in Tsinanfu, where he studied Catholic theology. In 1928 he formally converted to Catholicism in Beijing, where the

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international o ...

Archbishop

Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini (3 April 1876 – 17 October 1958) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and the founder of the Disciples of the Lord who served as the Apostolic Chancellor from 1954 until his death. He became a cardinal in 1 ...

performed the ritual of joining him to the Catholic Church. Alekseev founded a Russian Greek-Catholic parish in Shanghai. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he emigrated to Argentina. In Argentina, he lived in the monastery of Saint Michael () and served in the Russian parish of Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Buenos Aires. In 1951 he began to help the priest George Kovalenko. Alekseev died in Buenos Aires on April 23, 1952, at the age of 82 years.

References

Vladimir Kolupaev Vladimir Kolupaev (born September 17, 1964, Mesherskoye, Chekhovsky District, Russia) is a historian, Doctor of Historical Sciences, a graduate of the Moscow State Art and Cultural University and Catholic priest. Biography Since 1989, Kolupaev ...

, Archimandrite Nikolai Alekseev - experience life as a mission: Russia, Korea, China, Argentina / / Actual problems of the history and culture of orthodoxy. Vladivostok : Far Eastern Ed.-in. Univ., 2010. pp. 90–94. * George Kovalenko. fiftieth anniversary priesthood Father Archimandrite Nikolai Alekseev / / For the truth! (Newspaper). Buenos Aires . 21/07/1951. * Konstantin Nikolaev Eastern Rite. Paris : YMCA, 1950. with. 213. * Chronicle church life / / Russian thought. Paris. 1947, № 6. with. 5.

External links

Вселенство - новости Кафолического Православия

ProCatholic.ru - Русские католики. Архимандрит Николай Алексеев

* [http://zarubezhje.narod.ru/texts/frrostislav307.htm Игумен Ростислав (Колупаев). Католические общины византийского обряда и русская диаспора] {{DEFAULTSORT:Alekseev, Nikolai 1869 births 1952 deaths Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Russian Orthodox Christians Russian Eastern Catholics People from Vyborg