Archpriest Alexander Sipiagin (August 17, 1875January 16, 1941) was a politician, a priest of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and a member of Russian apostolate.

Biography

Sipiagin was born into a noble family in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

. His father was in the military and his uncle was the Interior Minister

Dmitry Sipyagin Dmitry Sergeyevich Sipyagin (russian: Дми́трий Серге́евич Сипя́гин) ( – ) was a Russian politician. Political career Born in Kiev, Sipyagin graduated from the Judicial Department of St Petersburg University in 187 ...

. In 1894 he entered the

University of Kharkiv The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...

, then studied geology at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich h ...

. Sipiagin after taught at

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

and

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Constitutional Democratic Party ) , newspaper = '' Rech'' , ideology = Constitutionalism Constitutional monarchismLiberal democracy Parliamentarism Political pluralismSocial liberalism , position = Centre to centre-left , international = , colo ...

elected him deputy of the

1906 Russian legislative election Legislative elections were held in the Russian Empire from 26 March to 20 April 1906. At stake were the 497 seats in the State Duma of the Russian Empire, the legislative assembly. Election for the First State Duma, which only ran from 27 Apri ...

. The sudden death of the wife nullifies the previous plans, Sipiagin converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

from Russian Orthodoxy and in 1909 became a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

. Influenced his choice acquaintance with Bishop

Eduard von der Ropp Eduard Michael Johann Maria Freiherr von der Ropp (1851–1939) was a Polish nobleman of Baltic German origins and Roman Catholic metropolitan archbishop. He was born 14 December 1851 near Līksna in present-day LatviaJānis Svilāns and Alber ...

, who instructed Sipyagin to teach at Roman Catholic seminary in

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901 ...

. At the beginning of the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

, he was sent to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, where he establishes contact with the

International Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signat ...

and deals with the fate of Russian prisoners. Then Sipyagin worked at Saint George Boarding for Russian children. In 1924 received the title of

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

. From 1929 he worked at the Commission on the establishment of the Code of Canon Law of the Eastern Churches, taught in "

Russicum The Collegium Russicum ( la, Pontificium Collegium Russicum Sanctae Theresiae A Iesu Infante; russian: Папская коллегия Ру́ссикум; '' en, Pontifical Russian College of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus'') is a Catholic col ...

"in publishing and research activities in the monastery of

Grottaferrata Grottaferrata () is a small town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills, south east of Rome. It has grown up around the Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, founded in 1004. Nearby com ...

. Sipyagin published his articles in the Catholic periodical: " Faith and Life "," Faith and the Church, "" To the compound: Russian Catholic magazine , "" Faith and Fatherland "," Ringing of church bells and the magazine " Kitezh (magazine). " Sipiagin was not only a talented journalist, but as a researcher and systematizer of Catholic publications in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. In 1935 in Harbin went up by it "Catalogue of Catholic literature in

." Sipiagin donated to the

library about 200 books. From 1930 he taught at the missionary Institute at the

John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin ( pl, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, la, Universitas Catholica Lublinensis Ioannis Pauli II, abbreviation KUL), established in 1918. It is the only private college in Poland with the s ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. In October 1933 Sipyagin participated in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in a meeting of Russian Catholic clergy.

Death

Alexander Sipyagin died in

and was buried at the

Campo Verano The Campo Verano (Italian: ''Cimitero del Verano'') is a cemetery in Rome, Italy, founded in the early 19th century. The monumental cemetery is currently divided into sections: the Jewish cemetery, the Catholic cemetery, and the monument to the ...

cemetery.

References

Father Alexander Sipyagin / / To compound: Russian Catholic magazine . Vilna, 1934, № 9-10. with. 18-19. Archpriest Alexander Sipyagin / / To compound: Russian Catholic magazine . Vilna, 1934, № 11-12. with. 9.12 Yes zluchennya: Belaruskaya religiynaya chasopis. Albertyn: Vydavetstva Isusavaga Fellowship, 1933, № 5.

External links

A bibliography Sipyagina found in http://catholichurch.ru/index.php/files/file/283--протоиерей-александр-сипягин/:

Vladimir Kolupaev Vladimir Kolupaev (born September 17, 1964, Mesherskoye, Chekhovsky District, Russia) is a historian, Doctor of Historical Sciences, a graduate of the Moscow State Art and Cultural University and Catholic priest. Biography Since 1989, Kolupae ...

. Fate of the Russian Catholic priest of the Diocese of Tiraspol: Archpriest Alexander Sipagin * http://zarubezhje.narod.ru/rs/s_134.htm * http://procatholic.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1608:2009-05-19-08-23-01&catid=69:2008-02-26-13-17-45&Itemid=59 * http://zarubezhje.narod.ru/texts/frrostislav3.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Sipiagin, Alexander 1875 births 1941 deaths Journalists from Tbilisi Clergy from Tbilisi People from Tiflis Governorate Russian Roman Catholic priests Former Russian Orthodox Christians Converts to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Russian Constitutional Democratic Party members Members of the 1st State Duma of the Russian Empire National University of Kharkiv alumni