Alexander Ivanovich Deubner (15 August 1899 – 15 May 1946) was a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

priest in Russia. He was originally a Catholic priest of the

Russian Catholic Church The Russian Greek Catholic Church or Russian Byzantine Catholic Church is a ''sui iuris'' (self-governing) Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic particular church that is part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Historically, it represents both a movem ...

, then a priest of the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

before returning to the Catholic church. He was also a member of the

Russian diaspora The Russian diaspora is the global community of Ethnicity, ethnic Russians. The Russian-speaking (''Russophone'') diaspora are the people for whom Russian language is the First language, native language, regardless of whether they are ethnic Russ ...

and died in the

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

Biography

Deubner was born in Ilensko-Tobolsk village,

Tobolsk Governorate Tobolsk Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, Russian Republic and Russian SFSR located in the Ural Mountains and Siberia. It existed from 1796 to 1920; its seat was in the city of Tobolsk, ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, into a family of Catholic priests of the Byzantine rite, Ivan Deubner, his father having converted to Catholicism in 1903. In 1913 Alexander lived in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, and then he was brought up in a Catholic

Assumptionists The Assumptionists, formally known as the Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption (; abbreviated AA), is a worldwide congregation of Catholic priests and brothers. It is active in many countries. The French branch played a major rol ...

Order, first in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, then in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and later he took his monastic vows in the Order with the name Spyridon. Ordained a priest in Constantinople in 1926 by Bishop Michael Mirov, Exarch of the

Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church The Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church is a ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church based in Bulgaria. As a particular church of the Catholic Church, it is in full communion with the Holy See. The church's ...

he was sent to work with Russian immigrants in the south of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, under the leadership of the priest Lev Gillet, OSB, serving in the House for Russian children in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Eulogius (Georgievsky) Eulogius (, born Vasily Semyonovich Georgiyevsky, ; 10 April 1868 – 8 April 1946 in Paris) was an Orthodox Christian bishop, who led elements of the Russian Orthodox diaspora in Western Europe from 1921 until his death. From 1931 he was head ...

of the Western European Exarchate of Russian Orthodox parishes, but shortly after, at the request of his (Catholic) father suffering exile within Russia, Alexander returned to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, working in the Commission "Pro Russia" and being secretary of Bishop

Michel d'Herbigny Michel-Joseph Bourguignon d'Herbigny (; May 8, 1880 – December 23, 1957) was a French Jesuit scholar and Catholic Church, Catholic bishop. He was president of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome and of the Pontifical Commission for Russia ...

.Archive website, ''The Occult Establishment'' by James Webb
/ref> In 1932 he left the ministry for 'not very honourable' reasons and went to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

where he was denounced as a Soviet spy, but in 1933 he returned to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and shortly went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. From 1935 he was living in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and in 1943 he was arrested by the Nazi regime and taken to Berlin, where he worked as a translator at the beginning of 1945, returning to Prague on 12 July 1945 where he was arrested and taken to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He was held in

Butyrka prison Butyrskaya prison (), usually known simply as Butyrka ( rus, Бутырка, p=bʊˈtɨrkə), is a prison in the Tverskoy District of central Moscow, Russia. In Imperial Russia it served as the central transit prison. During the Soviet Uni ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and was sentenced to 10 years but he died in the Gulag on 5 May 1946.

Family

Alexander's sister Nadezhda became a Catholic nun in the

Order. Deubner was the nephew of

Clara Zetkin Clara Zetkin (; ; ''née'' Eißner ; 5 July 1857 – 20 June 1933) was a German Marxist theorist, communist activist, and advocate for women's rights. Until 1917, she was active in the Social Democratic Party of Germany. She then joined the Inde ...

of the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

References

External links

Catholic.ru
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deubner, Alexander 1899 births 1946 deaths Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Russian Orthodox Christians Russian Eastern Catholic priests People from Tobolsk Governorate Russian expatriates in Belgium Russian expatriates in Turkey Russian expatriates in France Inmates of Butyrka prison