Porphyry (Constantine Uspensky)

Porphyry (Constantine Uspensky) (1804‒1885) – orientalist, archeographer, archeologist, specialist in Byzantine studies.

He was born in the family of a small clergyman; in 1813-1818, he studied at the Kostroma Spiritual School; and in 1818-1824 – at the Kostroma Spiritual Seminary. In 1829, he graduated from the St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy, and the same year he became a monk, taking the name of Porphyry; soon he became archpriest.

In 1831, he became Master in Theology, and teacher of Ecclesiastic Law at the Rishelievsky Lyceum in Odessa. In 1834, he became Head of the second-class Assumption Monastery in Odessa, and got the rank of archimandrite. In 1838-1840, he was Rector of the Kherson Spiritual Seminary. In 1840, he supervised the Embassy church in Wien. In 1842, he was sent to Jerusalem; next years he twice visited the Sinaic St Catherine Monastery. In 1847-1853, he was the first head of the Russian Ecclesiastic Mission in Jerusalem. During that period, he travelled in Levant (the Athos, Syria, Sinai, Egypt), where he made a vast collection of precious medieval manuscripts, as well as early medieval icons.

In 1865, he became Bishop of Chigirin, Vicar of the Metropolitan of Kiev. In 1878, he became a member of the Synod office in Moscow; since 1878, he was retired.

Compositions

The Athos the Pagan. Kiev, 1847. (in Rus.)
An Opinion on the Codex Sinaicus. 1862. (in Rus.)
The Holy Scripture at Christian Women, and a Biblical Rarity of Empress Maria Fedorovna. St. Petersburg, 1864. (in Rus.)
Doctrine, Liturge, Ecclesiastic Service, and the Rules of Ecclesiastic Blessing of Egyptian Christians (Copts). St. Petersburg, 1856. (in Rus.)
The First Travel to the Sinaic Monastery in 1845. St. Petersburg, 1856. (in Rus.)
The Second Travel to the Sinaic Monastery in 1850. St. Petersburg, 1856. (in Rus.)
The Christian East: Egypt and Sinai. St. Petersburg, 1857. (in Rus.)
Writings by Cineas Manafa on the Sinaic Rocks. St. Petersburg, 1857. (in Rus.)
The Christian East: the Athos. Kiev, 1877. (in Rus.)
The Book of My Life: the Diary and the Autobiographical Notes. St. Petersburg, 1894–1901. (in Rus.)
The Christian East: Travel to the Meteor and Olympus Monasteries in Thessaly in 1859. St. Petersburg, 1896. (in Rus.)
The Christian East: the Patriarchy of Alexandria (Collection of Materials, Research and Notes on the History of the Alexandria Eparchy). Vol. I, St. Petersburg, 1898. (in Rus.)

About him

Lebedev А., Dmitrievsky А. Reverend Porphyry (Uspensky). Sergiev Posad, 1904. (in Rus.)
Dmitrievsky А. Porphyry (Uspensky): on His 100the Anniversary. St. Petersburg, 1906. (in Rus.)
Materials for the Biography of the Bishop Porphyry Uspensky / Edit. P. V. Bezobrazov. Vol. 1-2. St. Petersburg, 1910. (in Rus.)

T. Ch.