Leonid (Leonidas) ( ka, ლეონიდე, Leonide) (15 February 1861 – 11 June 1921) was a

Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia ''Catholicos-Patriarch'' has been the title of the heads of the Georgian Orthodox Church since 1010. The first Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia was Melkisedek I (1010–1033). In the 15th century the Georgian Orthodox Church was divided into th ...

from 1918 to 1921. Born Longinoz Okropiridze (ლონგინოზ ოქროპირიძე) in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, then part of Imperial Russia, he graduated from the Theological Academy of Kiev,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in 1888. He was later involved in missionary activities, chiefly in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

. Ogropiridze served as an inspector of the schools operated by the Society for the Restoration of Orthodox Christianity in the Caucasus, an organization established by the Russian authorities. From the 1890s to the 1910s he served as an

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") wh ...

of the monasteries of Zedazeni, Khirsi and of St. John the Baptist in Georgia. He also chaired the Commission for Correction of the Georgian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

and was a member to the Georgia- Imeretia Synodal office. Leonid was actively involved in the Georgian autocephalist movement which succeeded in the restoration of the independent Georgian church from 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 ...

in 1917. During 1918, he functioned as a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of Gori, Imereti,

Guria Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 113,000 (2016), with Ozurgeti as the regional capital. Geography ...

Samegrelo Mingrelia ( ka, სამეგრელო, tr; xmf, სამარგალო, samargalo; ab, Агырны, Agirni) is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly known as Odishi. It is primarily inhabited by the Mingrelian ...

and as a metropolitan of

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

. On 28 November 1918 following the murder of

Kyrion II St. Kyrion II ( ka, კირიონ II) (November 10, 1855 – 26 June 1918) was a Georgian religious figure and historian who served as the first Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia after the restoration of independence (autocephaly) of the ...

, he was elected a Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia. During his tenure he faced several problems such as the lack of international recognition of the Georgian autocephaly and the persecution of the Georgian church by the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

regime established by the invading Russian army in February 1921. Leonid died on 11 June 1921, during the cholera

epidemics An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious d ...

in the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

References

"ლეონიდე". In: ''Encyclopaedia Georgiana'' (Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia). Vol. 6. 1982. {{authority control 1861 births 1921 deaths Catholicoses and Patriarchs of Georgia (country) Deaths from cholera Eastern Orthodox Christians from Georgia (country) Infectious disease deaths in Georgia (country)