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 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 ...

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 ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

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

Dmitry Sipyagin Dmitry Sergeyevich Sipyagin (; – ) was a Russian politician. Political career Born in Kiev, Sipyagin graduated from the Judicial Department of St Petersburg University in 1876. Served in the MVD as Vice Governor of Kharkov Governorate ( ...

. In 1894 he entered the

University of Kharkiv The V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (), also known as Kharkiv National University or Karazin University, is a public university in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It was founded in 1804 through the efforts of Vasily Karazin, becoming the second old ...

, then studied geology at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. Sipiagin after taught at

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

and

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

. In 1906 the

Constitutional Democratic Party The Constitutional Democratic Party (, K-D), also called Constitutional Democrats and formally the Party of People's Freedom (), was a political party in the Russian Empire that promoted Western constitutional monarchy—among other policies� ...

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 Apr ...

. 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 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 ...

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. Influenced his choice acquaintance with Bishop

Eduard von der Ropp Edward Ropp (; 1851–1939) was a Polish nobleman of Baltic German origins, Bishop of Vilnius and Catholic Church, Roman Catholic metropolitan archbishop of Mogilev. He was born 2 December 1851 near Līksna in present-day LatviaJānis Svilāns a ...

, who instructed Sipyagin to teach at Roman Catholic seminary in

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

. At the beginning of the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, he was sent to

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 ...

, where he establishes contact with the

International Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a aid agency, humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of Law of ...

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 (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

. 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 (; ; ') is a Catholic college in Rome, originally founded by Pope Pius XI and dedicated to training priests for the newly organized Russian Greek Catholic Church. It is located near the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, se ...

"in publishing and research activities in the monastery of

Grottaferrata Grottaferrata () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills, southeast of Rome. It has grown up around the Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, founded in 1004. N ...

. 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) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. In 1935 in

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

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 (, , abbreviation KUL) is a university established in 1918. History :pl:Idzi Radziszewski, Father Idzi Benedykt Radziszewski founded the university in 1918. Vladimir Lenin, Lenin allowed the priest ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. In October 1933 Sipyagin participated in

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, ...

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 covers a surface area of 83 hectares which is currently divided into several sections: the main Catholic ...

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 Evgenievich 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 Sin ...

. 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