Ivan Mikhailovich Martinov SJ (7 October 1821, at

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

– 26 April 1894, at

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

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 ...

), was a

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 ...

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest. After his

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Convert'', a 2023 film produced by Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * ...

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 ...

and consequent exile, he placed his vast knowledge of

Slavic culture This is a list of the cultures of Slavic Europe. * East Slavs: ** Culture of Russia ** Culture of Ukraine ** Culture of Belarus ** Rusyn culture * South Slavs: ** Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina ** Culture of Bulgaria ** Culture of Croatia * ...

at the service of a better understanding between the

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 ...

and

Catholic Churches In the Catholic Church, a parish () is a stable community of the faithful within a particular church, whose pastoral care has been entrusted to a parish priest (Latin: ''parochus''), under the authority of the diocesan bishop. It is the lowest ecc ...

Biography

After brilliant university studies at

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 ...

(where he obtained the ‘gold medal’) Martinov undertakes a long journey across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. In

he meets among others Father Xavier de Ravignan. His conversations with Ravignan led him to join the Catholic Church came from Russian Orthodoxy, and following the example of his friend

Ivan Gagarin Prince Ivan Sergeyevich Gagarin SJ (Иван Сергеевич Гагарин; born in Moscow, 1 August 1814; died in Paris, 19 July 1882) was a Russian Jesuit, known also as ''Jean-Xavier'' after his conversion from Orthodoxy to Roman Catholi ...

, in requesting admission in the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

(18 September 1845). The Jesuit ''curriculum'' of studies led him to

Brugelette Brugelette (; ; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Brugelette had a total population of 3,284. The total area is which gives a population density of . The municipality consists of t ...

(Belgium) for the study of

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

(1847-1848) and Laval (France) for

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

(1848-1852). He is ordained

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 ...

the 20 September 1851. He did some further studies in

Patrology Patristics, also known as Patrology, is a branch of theological studies focused on the writings and teachings of the Church Fathers, between the 1st to 8th centuries CE. Scholars analyze texts from both orthodox and heretical authors. Patristics em ...

at Paris (1852-1853) and the Jesuit last year of formation, called ‘

Tertianship Tertianship is the final period of formation for members of the Society of Jesus. Upon invitation of the Provincial, it usually begins three to five years after completion of graduate studies. It is a time when the candidate for final vows steps ...

’ (1853-1854). In 1854, together with other Russian Jesuit

and Dzhunkovsky, Martinov is convicted ''in absentia'' by the

authorities for ''unauthorized stay abroad and for joining the monks of the Jesuit order''. This deprived him of all class and property rights, and effectively prevented his returning home. Appointed at the ‘Saints Cyril and Methodius Society’, he worked in collaboration with Ivan Gagarin,

Eugene Balabin Yevgeny Petrovich Balabin SJ (also ''Evgenii''; , August 17, 1815, St. Petersburg - January 30, 1895, Cairo) was a Russian Roman Catholic priest and a member of the Society of Jesus. He was a prominent Russian Catholic of the 19th century. Balabin ...

, and others in making the Russian and Slavic religious and historical heritage better known in Western Europe. Living in France, he was engaged in religious journalism and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

(mostly Russian), writing extensively in French journals, and keeping people abreast of Russian scientific and literary life under the title «Courrier russe». Residing at times in Paris, at times in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

, Martinov was all through his life a ‘writer’ and journalist at the service of the 'Saints Cyril and Methodius’ apostolate. In particular he founded in 1866 the ‘Slavic Library’ which in the course of times became one of the richest in Western Europe. In 1870 Martinov was 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, ...

for the Vatican I Council as theologian and expert invited by

Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

. In 1883 he was appointed by

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the A ...

consultant of the '

Propaganda Fide The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is also known by its former title, the Sacred Congregati ...

' Congregation, for Oriental affairs. Ivan Martinov died in

(France) on 26 April 1894.

Writings

*''Les manuscrits slaves de la bibliothèque impériale de Paris'', Paris, 1858. *''Annus ecclesiasticus graeco-slavicus'', Bruxelles, 1863. *''Cursus vitae et certamen martyriii B. Josaphat Kuncevicii''. Paris, 1864.

Bibliography

*Marie-Joseph Rouet de Journel: ''L'Œuvre des Saints Cyrille et Méthode et la Bibliothèque slave'', dans ''Lettres de Jersey'', vol.36 (1922), pp. 613–648. *Robert Danieluk: ''Œcuménisme au XIXe siècle: Jésuites russes et union des Églises'', MHSI, Rome, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Martynov, Ivan Mikhailovich 1821 births 1894 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Russian Orthodox Christians Expatriates from the Russian Empire in France Jesuits from the Russian Empire 19th-century Roman Catholic priests from the Russian Empire