Theophan Prokopovich
Theophan Prokopowitsch (Russian: Феофа́н Елисей - according to other sources, Елеазар - Прокопо́вич; * June 8th July / June 18, 1681 greg. In Kiev , Tsarism Russia ; † September 8th July / September 19, 1736 greg. In Novgorod , Russian Empire ) was Archbishop of Novgorod and Vice-President of the Holy Synod . He was the most important advisor to Peter the Great in church politics.
Prokopowitsch came from a small merchant family from Smolensk from Kiev. He completed his theological studies in Poland and Rome . From 1705 he worked in Kiev as a teacher of poetics and rhetoric, where he also wrote his "Tragödokomödie" (scientific translit. As: tragedokomedija) Vladimir ("Влади́мир"). His poetics ("Поэтика"; 1705) and rhetoric ("Риторика"; 1706–1707), through which he popularized philosophers from antiquity, renaissance and baroque, also date from this period .
He then headed the training of priests in Kiev between 1711 and 1716 as rector of the Kiev Mohyla Academy .
In 1716 Peter the Great called Prokopovich to Petersburg . First he received the episcopal dignity of Pskov in 1718 , then in 1725 the archbishopric of Novgorod . Prokopovich pursued a theology that opened up to the Enlightenment and was thus close to the reform program of Peter the Great. Opposite this was the conservative Orthodox clergy with their center in Moscow .
Prokopowitsch's most important reform contribution was the "Spiritual Regulations" of 1720. When Peter made it a law, the Holy Synod was installed, which replaced the Russian patriarch as head of the church and was based on the model of Protestant regional church consistories. In numerous other treatises and sermons, Prokopovich defended the Tsar's reform program on the basis of enlightenment and natural law theories. He also campaigned for popular education and was a sponsor of the German natural scientist Georg Wilhelm Steller .
The asteroid (6681) Prokopovich was named after him.
literature
- Theophan Prokopovich. In: Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved April 25, 2018 .
- Konrad Onasch : Prokopowitsch, Feofan. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 7, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-048-4 , Sp. 995-998.
- Abaschnik, Vladimir Alekseevič, Feofan Prokopovič (1681–1736) as a key figure in the Russian fate of Georg Wilhelm Steller (1709–1746). In: Stellerstudien. International Georg Wilhelm Steller Society. Halle (Saale), 2011, p. 20. www.steller-gesellschaft.de/pdf/stellerstudie2011.pdf
Web links
- Biography of Theophan Prokopowitsch at encyclopediaofukraine.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reinhard Lauer , Brief History of Russian Literature . Verlag CH Beck oHG, Munich 2005. p. 38
- ↑ Lauer; ibid.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Prokopovich, Theophan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Prokopovich, Feofan; Prokopovyč, Teofan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Church prince, church politician, theologian, preacher and poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 18, 1681 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kiev , Tsarist Russia |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 19, 1736 |
| Place of death | Novgorod , Russian Empire |