Dmitriy Vladimirovich Kuz'min-Karavaev (1886–1959) was an

Old Bolshevik The Old Bolsheviks (), also called the Old Bolshevik Guard or Old Party Guard, were members of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Many Old Bolsheviks became leading politi ...

who converted after the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

from Marxist-Leninist atheism 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 ...

while working as a senior official of the Commissariat of Nationalities directly under a young

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. After being deported from 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 ...

in the

Philosophers' ship The philosophers' ships or philosopher's steamers () were steamships that transported intellectuals expelled from Soviet Russia in 1922. The main load was handled by two German ships, the ''Oberbürgermeister Haken'' and the ''Preussen'', which ...

, he was subsequently ordained to the priesthood in the

Russian Greek Catholic Church The Russian Greek Catholic Church or Russian Byzantine Catholic Church is a ''sui juris, sui iuris'' (self-governing) Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic particular church that is part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Hi ...

and became a well-known professor at the

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 ...

Early life

He was born in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

as the son of a

Russian Orthodox 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 ...

professor of law. According to

Lesley Chamberlain Lesley Chamberlain (born 26 September 1951, Rochford, Essex) is a British author who has written in a number of different genres — travel writing, food writing, Russian history, German history, fiction — after beginning as a journalis ...

, Kuzmin-Karavayev was also born into the hereditary

Russian nobility The Russian nobility or ''dvoryanstvo'' () arose in the Middle Ages. In 1914, it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members, out of a total population of 138,200,000. Up until the February Revolution of 1917, the Russian noble estates staffed ...

. During his legal studies at the University of St. Petersburg, Dmitriy discovered the writings of

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924, and of ...

and joined the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party. After serving a prison term, he openly ceased all anti-Tsarist activity and received a position with the Department of State Properties at the Ministry of Agriculture.

Conversion

In 1913, Dmitriy purchased a copy of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

from a woman peddling the scriptures on a train from

Tambov Tambov ( , ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna ...

to St. Petersburg. "I did it," he wrote, "partly out of compassion and partly out of snobbery." When his mother later put his briefcase in order, she was overjoyed to see his latest purchase. To please her, he grudgingly continued to carry the volume with him, but did not begin reading it until after the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. It was led by Vladimir L ...

in 1917. He later wrote,

"How many moments of consolation do I owe to that New Testament! The image of
Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...
the Savior, His winning humility, His love of God and men, so profound and impartial, are forever ingrained on my heart."

Dmitriy drifted into 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 ...

parish overseen by Father

Vladimir Abrikosov Vladimir Vladimirovich Abrikosov (22 October 1880 – 22 July 1966) was a Catholic priest of the Byzantine rite who converted from Russian Orthodoxy and was a member of Russian apostolate in the diaspora. Early years Abrikosov was baptized in ...

and was received into the Catholic Church on 5 May 1920. At the time, he was working as an official of the Commissariat for Nationalities under

. In 1922, he was formally deported by the Soviet regime.

Later life

In 1927 was ordained a

Catholic 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 ...

priest of the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

rite and his ministry was exercised abroad, 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 ...

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 ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. However, Karavaev was critical of an idea much present in his epoch: the biritualism of certain Russian priests - Latin and Byzantine - which would be an obstacle to uniting Orthodox believers to the Catholic Church.Sergey Golovanov
"The Historical Destiny of the Russian Catholic Tradition of the Byzantine Rite 1917-1991"
Karavaev died in 1959.

References

*Paul Mailleu, Father SJ. Exarch Leonid Feodorov: Bridgbuilder Between Rome and Moscow. New York: PJ Kenedy and Sons, 1964. S. 129. *Burman, Basil, background, Deacon OSB. Leonid Fedorov: The life and work. Rome, 1966. (Reissue: Lions, 1993).

External links

*http://rgcc.narod.ru/his.htm *http://www.krotov.info/lib_sec/04_g/gol/ovanov_06.htm *http://lists.memo.ru/d19/f43.htm *http://www.el-history.ru/node/765 *http://www.tez-rus.net/ViewGood32702.html *http://zarubezhje.narod.ru/texts/frrostislav305.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuzmin-Karavaev, Dmiitriy 1886 births 1959 deaths Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Russian Orthodox Christians Russian communists Old Bolsheviks Russian Greek-Catholics