Born on 4 October 1924 on the khutor of Kutepovo, in the Bolshekalmy­kovsky rural council of Bolkhovsky District, Tula Region, into the family of a single-homestead peasant who was later dispossessed as a kulak; two of his aunts were nuns at the Tula Uspensky Monastery. Nikolay Vasilyevich Kutepov descended from the village of Abakumovskiye Vyselki (also known as Kalmyki) in Bogoroditsky Uyezd of Tula Governorate, now part of Kireyevsky District of Tula Region; his parents — Vasily Ilyich and Varvara Ivanovna — wed in 1912 in the brick Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Znameniye" at the selo of Kryukovo-Pyatnitskoe. The future metropolitan's great-grandfather, Vasily Kuzmich Kutepov, enjoyed great authority among the peasants: he served as volost elder, was a member of the board of trustees, and served as churchwarden of the Znamensky church; it was at his expense that the church was repaired and a side-chapel dedicated to the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh was constructed.

The Kutepov family has a centuries-long history of service to the Fatherland: the earliest known records of its members appear in the scribal cadastre of 1588–1589 for the fortress town of Dedilovo, which was part of the Great Abatis Line of the Russian state, where a Cossack named Mikhail Kutepov — a distant ancestor of the metropolitan — is mentioned.[1][2]

Upon completing secondary school in Tula in 1942, he trained at the Tula Small Arms and Machine-Gun School and in October of that same year was sent to the front; he served as a private near Stalingrad, sustained two gunshot wounds, suffered a shell concussion, and frostbit his feet, and in hospital had the front thirds of both feet amputated.[2]

Kutepov Nikolay Vasilyevich (1924–2001) — Metropolitan of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas, Nicholas; veteran of the Great Patriotic War. He headed the Mukachevo, Omsk, Rostov, and Vladimir sees. From 1977 he headed the Nizhny Novgorod see. On 10 September 1961, Archimandrite Nicholas was consecrated Bishop of Mukachevo and Uzhhorod during the Liturgy at the Dormition Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra; on 9 September 1972 he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop, and on 1 July 1977 he assumed governance of the Gorky Diocese.[2] In 1946 he became second sub-deacon and secretary to Archbishop Anthony (Martsenko) of Tula and Belyov; in 1952 he graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary, in 1958 from the Leningrad Theological Academy, and on 20 December 1959 he took monastic vows at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.[2] On 25 February 1991 he was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan.

Achievements

He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, Second Class, the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, and various medals.

The title "Honorary Citizen of the City of Nizhny Novgorod" was conferred by resolution of the City Duma of Nizhny Novgorod dated October 6, 1994, No. 14. Metropolitan Nikolay passed away on June 21, 2001, and was interred in the crypt behind the altar of the Spassky Staroярmarochny Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod.[2] Over 23 years of archpastoral service in the Nizhny Novgorod land, Metropolitan Nikolay stood at the origins of the revival of church life after the Soviet period: during his tenure the relics of the Venerable Serafim of Sarov were returned, the Diveevo Monastery was reopened, and large-scale celebrations were held in Arzamas in honor of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus.[2]

See also

Sources

  1. pravoslavie.ru — Nikolay Vasilyevich Kutepov was a native of the village of Abakumovskiye Vyselki (also known as Kalmyki) in Bogoroditsky Uyezd of Tula Governorate, now belonging to Kira (archive)
  2. nne.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Metropolis — Nikolay Kutepov was born on October 4, 1924, at the khutor of Kutepovo in the Bolshekalmy­kovsky Village Soviet of Bolkhovsky District of Tula Oblast, into the family of… (archive)
  3. nne.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Metropolis (archive)