Recent from talks
Alexander Men
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Alexander Men
Alexander Vladimirovich Men (Russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Мень, romanized: Aleksandr Vladimirovich Men'; 22 January 1935 – 9 September 1990) was a Soviet Russian Orthodox Church priest, dissident, scholar of theology and the Bible, and author of works on theology, history of religion, the fundamentals of Christian doctrine, and Orthodox worship.
He wrote dozens of books, including his magnum opus, History of Religion: In Search of the Way, the Truth and the Life (from 1970 onward). Its seventh volume, Son of Man (1969) introduced Christianity to thousands of Soviet citizens. He baptized hundreds of people, founded an Orthodox open university in 1990, established one of the first Sunday schools in the USSR, and created a charity group supporting the Russian Children's Hospital.
Men was murdered on the morning of Sunday, 9 September 1990, by an unknown number of assailants outside his home in Semkhoz, located in the Sergiyevo-Posadsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. The circumstances of the murder remain unclear.
Men's father, Volf Gersh-Leibovich (Vladimir Grigoryevich) Men, was born in Kyiv in 1902. Volf attended a religious Jewish school as a child but did not practice religion later in life. He graduated from two universities and worked as the chief engineer of a textile factory.
Men's maternal ancestors, originally from Poland, had lived in Russia since the 18th century. His grandmother, Cecilia Vasilevskaya, and grandfather, Odessa resident Semyon (Solomon) Ilyich Tsuperfein, met in Switzerland while studying chemistry at the University of Bern. Their daughter Yelena (Alexander's mother) was born in Bern in 1908. After graduating, Semyon, Cecilia, and their daughter lived in Paris. In 1914, during a visit to Russia, Semyon was mobilized, and the family settled in Kharkov. Yelena Semyonovna Men (née Tsuperfein) was drawn to Christianity from a young age and studied the Orthodox faith at a private gymnasium in Kharkov. As a high school student, she moved to Moscow to live with her grandmother Anna Osipovna Vasilevskaya. In 1934, she married Volf.
Men was born in Moscow to a Jewish family on 22 January 1935. When he was aged six months, he and his mother were secretly baptized in Zagorsk by Archimandrite Seraphim (Bityukov) of the banned Catacomb Church, a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church that refused to cooperate with Soviet authorities.
When Men was six years old, his father was arrested by the NKVD. His father spent over a year in custody and was then assigned to labor in the Ural Mountains. Men studied at the Moscow Fur Institute in 1955 and transferred to Irkutsk Agricultural Institute, from which he was expelled in 1958 due to his religious beliefs. On 1 June 1958, one month after his expulsion, he was ordained a deacon and sent to the parish of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos in Akulovo.
On 1 September 1960, Men became a priest after graduating from the Leningrad Theological Seminary. His consecration took place at the Donskoi Monastery. Men was appointed second priest in the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Petrovskoye-Alabin, where he became rector a year later. In 1965, he completed his studies at Moscow Theological Academy.
Hub AI
Alexander Men AI simulator
(@Alexander Men_simulator)
Alexander Men
Alexander Vladimirovich Men (Russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Мень, romanized: Aleksandr Vladimirovich Men'; 22 January 1935 – 9 September 1990) was a Soviet Russian Orthodox Church priest, dissident, scholar of theology and the Bible, and author of works on theology, history of religion, the fundamentals of Christian doctrine, and Orthodox worship.
He wrote dozens of books, including his magnum opus, History of Religion: In Search of the Way, the Truth and the Life (from 1970 onward). Its seventh volume, Son of Man (1969) introduced Christianity to thousands of Soviet citizens. He baptized hundreds of people, founded an Orthodox open university in 1990, established one of the first Sunday schools in the USSR, and created a charity group supporting the Russian Children's Hospital.
Men was murdered on the morning of Sunday, 9 September 1990, by an unknown number of assailants outside his home in Semkhoz, located in the Sergiyevo-Posadsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. The circumstances of the murder remain unclear.
Men's father, Volf Gersh-Leibovich (Vladimir Grigoryevich) Men, was born in Kyiv in 1902. Volf attended a religious Jewish school as a child but did not practice religion later in life. He graduated from two universities and worked as the chief engineer of a textile factory.
Men's maternal ancestors, originally from Poland, had lived in Russia since the 18th century. His grandmother, Cecilia Vasilevskaya, and grandfather, Odessa resident Semyon (Solomon) Ilyich Tsuperfein, met in Switzerland while studying chemistry at the University of Bern. Their daughter Yelena (Alexander's mother) was born in Bern in 1908. After graduating, Semyon, Cecilia, and their daughter lived in Paris. In 1914, during a visit to Russia, Semyon was mobilized, and the family settled in Kharkov. Yelena Semyonovna Men (née Tsuperfein) was drawn to Christianity from a young age and studied the Orthodox faith at a private gymnasium in Kharkov. As a high school student, she moved to Moscow to live with her grandmother Anna Osipovna Vasilevskaya. In 1934, she married Volf.
Men was born in Moscow to a Jewish family on 22 January 1935. When he was aged six months, he and his mother were secretly baptized in Zagorsk by Archimandrite Seraphim (Bityukov) of the banned Catacomb Church, a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church that refused to cooperate with Soviet authorities.
When Men was six years old, his father was arrested by the NKVD. His father spent over a year in custody and was then assigned to labor in the Ural Mountains. Men studied at the Moscow Fur Institute in 1955 and transferred to Irkutsk Agricultural Institute, from which he was expelled in 1958 due to his religious beliefs. On 1 June 1958, one month after his expulsion, he was ordained a deacon and sent to the parish of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos in Akulovo.
On 1 September 1960, Men became a priest after graduating from the Leningrad Theological Seminary. His consecration took place at the Donskoi Monastery. Men was appointed second priest in the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Petrovskoye-Alabin, where he became rector a year later. In 1965, he completed his studies at Moscow Theological Academy.