About the Author of the Book “Abkhazia and the New Athos Monastery of St. Simon the Canaanite in it”

Abstract

The article is devoted to establishing the authorship of the book “Abkhazia and the New Athos Monastery of St. Simon the Canaanite in it,” published in 1898 and signed with the initials “I. N.” The book is a significantly expanded reprint of the work under the same name by Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin), published in 1885. The special literature contains various assumptions regarding the author-compiler whose name is hidden behind the initials. The analysis of the text of the book, the official reporting of the Society for the Restoration of Orthodox Christianity in the Caucasus and archival documents permit to establish that the book was compiled by retired colonel Ivan Alekseevich Nikiforov. The surviving letters of I. A. Nikiforov to Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin) allow us to get an idea of the moral character of the author.

Keywords

• new athos monastery
• society for the restoration of orthodox christianity
• ivan nikiforov
• archimandrite leonid (kavelin)
• tiflis junker school
• ministry of the laity
• spiritual enlightenment