Alexander Ksaverievich Bulatovich (; 26 September 1870 – 5 December 1919)

tonsure Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...

d Hieroschemamonk Anthony () was a Russian military officer, explorer of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, writer,

hieromonk A hieromonk,; Church Slavonic, Slavonic: ''Иеромонахъ''; ; ; ; ; Albanian language, Albanian: ''Hieromurg'' also called a priestmonk, is a person who is both monk and Priest#Roman Catholic and Orthodox, priest in the Eastern Christianity ...

and the leader of the

imiaslavie ''Imiaslavie'' (''imyaslavie'', , or 'name-glorification'), among critics also known as ''imyabozhie'' () or imyabozhnichestvo (), "deification of the name", and also referred to as onomatodoxy () was a mystical-dogmatic movement in Russian Ort ...

movement in

Eastern Orthodox Christianity Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Biography

Early life

Alexander was born to a family of

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, , ɐˈrʲɵl, a=ru-Орёл.ogg, links=y, ), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, situated on the Oka Rive ...

nobility and was of Russian/Belarusian, French, Georgian, and Tatar descent. He studied in

Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum The Imperial Lyceum () in Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg, also known historically as the Imperial Alexander Lyceum after its founder Tsar Alexander I, was an educational institution which was founded in 1811 with the object of educating yo ...

, then served in the

Hussar A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...

Leib Guard regiment.

Military service

In 1896, he was a member of the Russian mission of the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, where he became a confidant of

Negus ''Negus'' is the word for "king" in the Ethiopian Semitic languages and a Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, title which was usually bestowed upon a regional ruler by the Ethiopian Emperor, Negusa Nagast, or "king of kings," in pre-1974 Et ...

Menelek II of Ethiopia Menelik II ( ; horse name Aba Dagnew (Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 August 1844 – 12 December 1913), baptised as Sahle Maryam (ሣህለ ማርያም ''sahlä maryam'') was king of Shewa from 1866 to 1889 and Emperor of Et ...

. Bulatovich later joined the expedition of Ras

Welde Giyorgis Aboye Welde Giyorgis Aboye (horse name Abba Säggäd; 4 November 1851 – 1 March 1918) was one of the most prominent Ethiopian generals who spearheaded Emperor Menelik's southward expansion at the close of the 19th century. His fame soared after lead ...

and became the first European to provide a scientific description of

Kaffa province Kaffa ( Amharic: ካፋ) was a province on the southwestern side of Ethiopia; its capital city was Bonga. Kaffa is bordered on the west by Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the ...

(later conquered by Menelek II wherein Bulatovich was in Menelik's forces). He was the first European to reach the mouth of the

Omo River The Omo River (; also called Omo-Bottego) in southern Ethiopia is the largest Ethiopian river outside the Nile Basin. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia, and it empties into Lake Turkana on the border with Kenya. T ...

. Among the places named by Bulatovich is the Nicholas II Mountain Range. He had to ask permission from the Tsar himself to name the range in his honour. After Bulatovich returned to Russia, he received a Silver Medal from the

Russian Geographical Society The Russian Geographical Society (), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection with research programs in fields including oceanography, ethnography, ecology and stati ...

for his work in Ethiopia and the

military rank Military ranks is a system of hierarchy, hierarchical relationships within armed forces, police, Intelligence agency, intelligence agencies, paramilitary groups, and other institutions organized along military organisation , military lines, such ...

of a

poruchik The rank of lieutenant in Eastern Europe, also called ''poruchnick'' in Slavic languages, is one used in Slavophone armed forces. Depending on the country, it is either the lowest or second lowest officer rank. Etymology The rank designatio ...

(later

Rittmeister Rittmaster () is usually a commissioned officer military rank used in a few armies, usually equivalent to Captain. Historically it has been used in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Scandinavia, and some other countries. A is typically in charge of a s ...

) of the Leib Guard Hussars. He served 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 ...

. In 1903, after his talks with Saint

John of Kronstadt John of Kronstadt or John Iliytch Sergieff (Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ; 1829 – ) was a Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Archpriest#In Byzantine Christianity, archpriest and a member of the Most ...

, he resigned from the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

and became a monk (later hiero-schema-monk) of the Russian

Skete of Saint Andrew The Skete of Saint Andrew, also the Skete of Apostle Andrew and Great Anthony or Skiti Agiou Andrea in Karyes is a monastic institution (skete) on Mount Athos. It is a dependency of Vatopedi Monastery and is the site of the Athonias Ecclesiastica ...

near the much larger St. Panteleimon Monastery on

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. He also visited Ethiopia again, this time trying to establish a Russian Orthodox Monastery there. He was tonsured as Father Antony and became known as Hieromonk Antony Bulatovich. In 1907, after reading the book ''On Caucasus Mountains'' by the schema-monk Hilarion (Domrachov), he became one of the leaders of the

movement within the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

. When the movement was proclaimed a

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

and disbanded by Russian military force in 1913, he was in St. Petersburg pleading the cause of monks. He continued to push for official recognition of the ''imiaslavie''. He published many theological books proving the movement's dogmas, obtained an audience with the

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

to discuss the matter, and eventually managed to secure some sort of rehabilitation for himself and his imiaslavtsy comrades. They were allowed to return to their positions in the Church without repentance. On August 28, 1914, shortly after the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Bulatovich received permission to rejoin the Imperial Russian Army as an army priest. Over the course of the war, Bulatovich went beyond his role as a priest and on "many occasions, led soldiers to attack" for which he was awarded the Cross of St. George.

Later life

After returning from the war, he took part in discussions on the ''imiaslavie''. In October 1918, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church canceled the decision allowing imyaslavtsy to participate in church services provided they repent. The decision was signed by

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

Tikhon of Moscow Tikhon of Moscow (, – ), born Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin (), was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). On 5 November 1917 ( OS) he was selected the 11th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, after a period of about 200 years of the ...

. In January 1919, Bulatovich ceased all relations with the Holy Synod and Tikhon and returned to his family estate in Lebedinka, where he started a small

skete A skete () is a monastic community in Eastern Christianity that allows relative isolation for monks, but also allows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection. It is one of four types of early monastic orders, alo ...

and lived as a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

. He was the spiritual opponent of any civil war.

Death

On the night of December 6, 1919, he was murdered. There are conflicting accounts regarding who the killers were; either they were deserters of the

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

or the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

or some unaffiliated robbers.

Bulatovich in Russian literature

Antony Bulatovich was most probably the original for the grotesque Schema-Hussar Alexei Bulanovich from the novel ''

The Twelve Chairs ''The Twelve Chairs'' () is a Russian classic satirical picaresque novel by the Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov, published in 1928. Its plot follows characters attempting to obtain jewelry hidden in a chair. A sequel was published in 1931. The ...

'' by

Ilf and Petrov Ilya Ilf (Ilya Arnoldovich Feinsilberg or , 1897–1937) and Yevgeny Petrov (Yevgeniy Petrovich Katayev or , 1902–1942) were two Soviet prose authors of the 1920s and 1930s. They did much of their writing together, and are almost alway ...

. He is also the hero of

Valentin Pikul Valentin Savvich Pikul (; July 13, 1928 – July 16, 1990) was a popular and prolific Soviet Union, Soviet historical novelist of Ukrainian-Russian heritage. He lived and worked in Riga. Pikul's novels were grounded in extensive research, blendin ...

's story ''The Hussar on a Camel''. In addition he is the hero of the novel ''The Name of Hero'' by Richard Seltzer (published by

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

in 1981). The complete text of that novel is online for free at http://www.seltzerbooks.com/hero.html "Mazepa! Layers of Legend," short story by Richard Seltzer inspired by Bulatovich's life. Online for free at https://medium.com/@seltzer_57387/mazepa-layers-of-legend-1d4173fea9dd

Writings

* A. K. Bulatovich, ''Ethiopia Through Russian Eyes: Country in Transition, 1896-1898'', translated by Richard Seltzer, 2000, . http://www.seltzerbooks.com/russianeyes.html * A. K. Bulatovich, ''With the Armies of Menelik II'' translated by Richard Seltzer http://www.seltzerbooks.com/armies.html * A. K. Bulatovich, ''From Entotto to the River Baro'' translated by Richard Seltzer http://www.seltzerbooks.com/entotto.html * A. K. Bulatovich, My Third Journey to Ethiopia, 1899-1900 translated by Richard Seltzer http://www.seltzerbooks.com/thirdjourney.html

References

Article in the ''Bibliographical Dictionary of Victims of Political Repressions''

Article on the site of Russian orthodox Church

* Tatiana Sénina (moniale Kassia)
Un palamite russe du début du XXème siècle : le hiéromoine Antoine Boulatovitch et sa doctrine sur l’énergie divine
in ''Scrinium'', t. 6: ''Patrologia Pacifica Secunda'' (2010) 392–409. * Tatiana Senina (Nun Kassia)
The status of divine revelation in the works of Hieromonk Anthony Bulatovich
in ''Scottish Journal of Theology'' 64:4 (2011) 377–389. * Tatiana Sénina (moniale Kassia)
La doctrine du hiéromoine Antoine Boulatovitch sur les idées et sa théorie de la connaissance
in ''Scrinium. Journal of Patrology, Critical Hagiography and Ecclesiastical History'', vol. 7-8: ''Ars Christiana: In Memoriam Michail F. Murianov (21.XI.1928-6.VI.1995)'' (2011-2012) Pt. 2, p. 314-325.
THE ORIGINS OF ‘HERESY’ ON MOUNT ATHOS: ILARION’S NA GORAKH KAVKAZA (1907)
* For numerous related documents, including his official military record, as well as interviews with and letters from his sister Princess Mary Orbeliani see http://seltzerbooks.com/sourcesandrelateddocuments.html

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulatovich, Alexander 1870 births 1919 deaths People from Oryol People from Orlovsky Uyezd (Oryol Governorate) Nobility from the Russian Empire Explorers of Africa Theologians from the Russian Empire Religious leaders from the Russian Empire Imperial Russian Army officers 19th-century explorers from the Russian Empire Anthropologists from the Russian Empire Geographers from the Russian Empire 20th-century Eastern Orthodox theologians 19th-century Eastern Orthodox theologians Russian military personnel of World War I Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum alumni Murder victims from the Russian Empire