Katansky Aleksandr Lvovich (November 19 [December 1], 1836, Nizhny Novgorod — February 27, 1919) was a theologian, Doctor of Theology, and professor of the Department of Dogmatic Theology at the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy.[2]

Origins and Education

He was born into the family of a deacon of the Sergievskaya Church in Nizhny Novgorod. He graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod Theological School (1852), the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary (1858), and the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy (1863).[2]

Scholarly and Teaching Career

From 1863 to 1867 he served as a bakalavr (a junior academic rank) in church oratory and church archaeology at the Moscow Theological Academy. From 1867 to 1898 he held the Department of Dogmatic Theology at the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy: in 1869 he was elected extraordinary professor, and in 1877 ordinary professor and assistant rector for the theological division.[2]

From 1881 to 1885 he edited the journal "Church Herald"; according to other sources, he was its editor in 1882–1883, and afterward wrote the journal's review of religious publications.[2][3]

His published works include "On Attempts to Unite the Eastern and Western Churches," "A Survey of the Ancient Liturgies of the West," and "An Outline of the History of the Orthodox Liturgy" (all in "Christian Reading," 1867–1878), "Accounts of the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands," "The Teaching of the Holy Fathers of the Church of the First Three Centuries on the Sacraments" (Saint Petersburg, 1879), as well as his culminating work, "The Doctrine of God's Grace in the Writings of the Ancient Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church up to Blessed Augustine" (Saint Petersburg, 1902).[3]

He was elected an honorary member of the Saint Petersburg (1896), Kazan (1897), and Moscow (1904) theological academies.[2]

Final Years. Legacy

He died in 1919 of starvation during the Civil War. He was buried in the cemetery in Detskoye Selo, Petrograd Governorate (now the town of Pushkin, Leningrad Region).[2]

In 2010 the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary published his "Memoirs of an Old Professor. From 1847 to 1913" (430 pp.).[1]

Sources

  1. azbyka.ru — Katapetasma, Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia or Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary. Volume IX — Professor Alexander Pavlovich Lopukhin
  2. search.rsl.ru — Katansky, Alexander Lvovich (1836–1919). — Memoirs of an Old Professor. From 1847 to 1913 [Text] / A. L. Katansky.
  3. theological_encyclopedia.academic.ru — Katansky Alexander Lvovich — what is it? Who is Katansky Alexander Lvovich? (theological_encyclopedia.academic.ru)
  4. ortho-rus.com — Laity
  5. ru.wikisource.org — ESBE/Katansky, Alexander Lvovich — Wikisource (archive)