Stefan Iavorsky
Stefan Iavorsky, originally named Semen Ivanovich, was a significant figure in the Eastern Orthodox Church during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Born in 1658 in what is now western Ukraine, he belonged to a wealthy family that relocated to Krasilovka to escape Catholic repression following Poland's acquisition of their homeland. Iavorsky's education began at the Kiev Mohyla Collegium, the leading Orthodox institution at the time. His studies later took him to Poland, where he briefly converted to Uniate Catholicism before returning to his Orthodox roots and entering monastic life under his new name in 1689.
Iavorsky became a prominent theologian and writer, known for his traditionalist views that favored classical thinkers over modern humanists. His eloquence in preaching earned him recognition, leading to his appointment as a temporary patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church under Peter the Great. While initially supportive of Peter's ecclesiastical reforms, Iavorsky's stance shifted as the czar increasingly curtailed the Church's authority. His relationship with Peter soured, particularly after Iavorsky's 1712 sermon, which favored the czar's son against his father’s reforms. Ultimately, Iavorsky's influence waned, and he became the nominal president of the newly established Holy Synod before his death in 1722, which occurred amidst tensions and accusations of treason.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Stefan Iavorsky
Writer
- Born: 1658
- Birthplace: Iavor, Ukraine (now Poland)
- Died: November 24, 1722
- Place of death: Moscow, Russia
Biography
Stefan Iavorsky was the monastic name taken by Semen Ivanovich, a scion of a wealthy family from Iavor. Iavor was a city in western Ukraine which has since been destroyed and all record of its exact location lost. He was born in 1658, but after the area became a part of Poland in 1667, his family moved to the village of Krasilovka near Nezhin to continue to practice their Orthodox faith without trouble from the Catholic Poles.
In 1673, he entered the Kiev Mohyla Collegium, which was the foremost Orthodox school in the area in that day. After completing its course of study, he found a patron in Varlaam Iasinsky, who encouraged him to go to Poland in order to complete his studies. In order to do so, he had to convert from Orthodoxy to Uniate (Eastern-rite) Catholicism, and to adopt a Polish name, Stanislav. He spent five years studying in various Polish cities, and the Jesuits even offered him a position in one of their colleges, but Iavorsky returned to Kiev and the Orthodox Church.
He took monastic vows in 1689 under the name of Stefan, and quickly began a successful academic career. In addition, he began to write poems praising his mentor Iasinsky. In his intellectual life he was a traditionalist, preferring Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, and openly attacked such humanist thinkers as Nicholas Copernicus and René Descartes. By 1697, his preaching was attracting considerable attention, which led to his removal from the comfortable life of intellectual activity he had led in Kiev and thrust him instead into the tense political situation of Moscow.
In 1700, he was in Moscow on ecclesial business, and was suddenly picked to give the funerary oration for Field Marshal Aleksei Shein. Peter the Great was so pleased by this young prelate that he ordered an appointment to be found for Iavorsky so that he might remain in Moscow. When Patriarch Adrian died shortly thereafter, Peter made Iavorsky the temporary patriarch. His reputation, combined with a relatively quiet personality, was exactly the mixture that Peter wanted for the person at the nominal head of the Russian Orthodox Church while he forced reforms upon it.
At first, Iavorsky was relatively sanguine about Peter’s reforms. He suppressed various clergy who attacked them, such as Grigory Talitsky, who accused Peter the Great of being the Antichrist. However, as Peter went further, effectively stripping the Church of all real power and reducing the Patriarchate to a figurehead, Iavorsky began to grow cool toward the czar.
In 1712, Iavorsky read a sermon for the name-day of the Czarevich Aleksei that openly called the imperial heir, a noted opponent of his father’s reforms, the only hope for Russia. Enraged, Peter forbade Iavorsky to preach in public. Iavorsky then turned to theology, and his influence in court declined steadily. In 1721, the Patriarchate was replaced by the Holy Synod, of which Iavorsky was made the nominal president. In the last year of his life, he was interrogated about treasonous statements, and only his death, on November 24, 1722, may have saved him from torture and execution.