Filaret Scriban (; born Vasile Scriban ; 1811–March 23, 1873) was a

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centra ...

n and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

n theologian within the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchat ...

. Born in Burdujeni,

Botoșani County Botoșani County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia (encompassing a few villages in neigbhouring Suceava County from Bukovina to the west as well), with the capital town ( ro, Oraș reședință de județ) at Botoșani. De ...

, then a village near

Suceava Suceava () is the largest urban settlement and the seat town ( ro, oraș reședință de județ) of Suceava County, situated in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania, and at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. Klaus Pet ...

, his father was a priest. Leaving for Iași, the capital of

, he studied at the Vasilian College and at ''

Academia Mihăileană Academia Mihăileană was an institution of higher learning based in Iași, Moldavia, and active in the first part of the 19th century. Like other Eastern European institutions of its kind, it was both a high school and a higher learning institu ...

'' between 1830 and 1837. Meanwhile, between 1834 and 1837, he taught at the normal school associated with Trei Ierarhi Monastery and was a part-time teacher at ''Academia Mihăileană'' from 1837 to 1839. He was sent to study at Kiev Theological Academy, where he remained from 1839 to 1842 and obtained a master's degree in theology. He entered

Kiev Pechersk Lavra Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra or Kyivo-Pechers’ka Lavra ( uk, Києво-Печерська лавра, translit=Kyievo-Pecherska lavra, russian: Киево-Печерская лавра), also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Ea ...

, taking the name Filaret, and was ordained a

hieromonk A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church and ...

in 1842. From that time until 1860, he taught at the Socola Monastery, eventually becoming rector, as well as abbot of the monastery. He attained the rank of

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") wh ...

in 1843, and was styled

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox a ...

of Stavropoleos in 1852. In the 1850s, he actively promoted the Union of the Principalities, and was a member of the ''ad hoc'' Divan in 1857. When the University of Iași opened in 1860, he taught at the new theology faculty from that time until 1863. He served as the university's rector from 1861 to 1862."Rectorii Universității din 1860 până în prezent"
at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University site Following his retirement from teaching, he lived at Socola Monastery. Beginning in 1865, together with his brother Neofit, he was at the forefront of the campaign to obtain

autocephaly Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern O ...

for his church from the

Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of the ...

. He was the ''

ktitor ''Ktetor'' ( el, κτήτωρ) or ''ktitor'' (; ka, ქტიტორი ''kt’it’ori''; ro, ctitor), meaning "founder", is a title given in the Middle Ages to the provider of funds for construction or reconstruction of an Eastern Orthodox ch ...

'' of several churches in Burdujeni, and was a member of the

Romanian Senate ) is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 136 seats (before the 2016 Romanian legislative election the total number of elected representatives was 176), to which members are elected by direct popular vote using party-list ...

from 1867 to 1869. He authored a number of textbooks, both for secular and theological education, as well as poems and speeches."Scriban, Filaret"
, entry in Mircea Păcurariu, ''Dicționarul Teologilor Români'', Editura Univers Enciclopedic, Bucharest, 1996

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scriban, Filaret 1811 births 1873 deaths People from Suceava Romanian theologians Romanian abbots Romanian Orthodox monks Romanian textbook writers Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Rectors of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Members of the Ad hoc Divans Members of the Senate of Romania Kiev Theological Academy alumni