Bishop Joasaph (
secular name
A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of Civil registry, registration of the birth ...
Ivan Ilyich Bolotov, ; 22 January 1761 – May 1799) was a Russian Orthodox missionary, bishop of Kodiak, vicar of Irkutsk diocese.
He came to
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
as the leader of a group of
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...
from the
Valaam Monastery
The Valaam Monastery (; ) is a stauropegic Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox monastery in Russian Republic of Karelia, Karelia, located on Valaam, the largest island in Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe.
History
It is not clear when the mon ...
in 1794. Under very primitive conditions he and his
monastic
Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...
companions established the foundations of an
Orthodox presence in North America. Called to
Irkutsk
Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...
, he was consecrated the
auxiliary Bishop
An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions.
...
of
Kodiak, but did not survive a shipwreck on his return to Alaska.
Life
''Ivan Ilyich Bolotov'' (Russian Иоанн Ильич Болотов) was born on January 22, 1761, in the village of Strazhkov in the Kashin district of the
province of Tver. His father was the local
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 ...
in the village. His early education was at the