Plato II or Platon II (29 June 1737 – 11 November 1812) was the

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

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from 1775 to 1812. He personifies the

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in the

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. He was born at Chashnikovo near Moscow as Platon Levshin () in the family of a

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odist, and was educated at the seminary and the

Slavic Greek Latin Academy The Slavic Greek Latin Academy () was the first higher education establishment in Moscow. History Beginning The academy's establishment may be viewed as a result of the incorporation of the Left-Bank Ukraine into Muscovy after the Treaty of Perey ...

of Moscow. In 1757 he was appointed instructor in

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and

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at the latter institution, and became distinguished as a pulpit orator. Within the year he was called to be an instructor in rhetoric at the

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near Moscow. Here he became a monk, adopting the name of Platon, and in 1761 was made rector of the seminary of the monastery. A sermon preached by him in October 1762, produced so favorable an impression on the Empress

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that she summoned him to court to be the religious instructor of the eight-year-old heir apparent, Paul Petrovitch. Here he came into close contact with

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and the

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s, but without injury either to his faith or his character. Platon remained at the Russian court, winning the admiration of even Voltaire, until the marriage of the

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to Maria Feodorovna, daughter of Duke Eugene of Württemberg, in 1773. During this time he published, for the use of his royal pupil, his ''Orthodox Doctrine: or, A short Compend of Christian Theology'' (Moscow, 1765), in which the influence of Western thought, and even of rationalism, may be distinctly traced. At the same time,

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doctrines are mercilessly attacked, while the

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tenet of ubiquity and the Reformed theory of

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also receive their share of criticism. This catechism was followed, a year later, by the ''Exhortation of the Orthodox Eastern Catholic Church of Christ to her former Children, now on the Road to Schism'', pleading, though with scant success, for lenient treatment of dissenters from the

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. In 1768 Platon became a member of the

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, and in 1770 was made bishop of

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, though he still remained at

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, finally being the religious instructor of the new grand duchess. In 1775 he was enthroned archbishop of Moscow, and throughout the reigns of Catherine II, Paul, and

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...

diligently promoted the religious, moral, intellectual, and material welfare of his archdiocese, maintaining meanwhile an unceasing literary activity. In 1775 he issued a

catechism A catechism (; from , "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of Catholic theology, doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult co ...

for the use of the clergy, and in 1776 a short catechism for children, as well as one in the form of a dialogue, while his brief history of the Russian Church (1777) is the first systematic treatise of its kind in the Russian language. In 1787 Platon reluctantly consented to become the metropolitan of Moscow. He visited the city but seldom, however, passing the winter in the Troitsky monastery and the summer in the Pererva Monastery close to Moscow. Here he supervised personally the studies of the seminarians, who included three destined to succeed him as archbishop of Moscow. Compared to his predecessors, Platon was rather lenient towards the

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists ( Russian: староверы, ''starovery'' or старообрядцы, ''staroobryadtsy'') is the common term for several religious groups, which maintain the old liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian ...

and allowed them to establish their first chapels in

, notably the Preobrazhenskoe cemetery. He also formalized the arrangement, known as

Edinoverie Edinoverie ( rus, единове́рие, p=jɪdʲɪnɐˈvʲerʲɪjɪ, literally "coreligionism") is an arrangement between certain Russian Old Believer communities and the official Russian Orthodox Church, whereby such communities are treated as a ...

, earlier introduced by Archbishop Nikephoros of Slaviansk, that allowed Old Believer communities to join the established church, while maintaining their traditional form of worship. It was Platon who crowned both Paul (1797) and Alexander I (1801); but despite his close and cordial relations with the court he preserved to the last his firmness and his independence. Shortly before his death he aided in preparing the way for the foundation of the

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which was established in the year in which he died. Shortly before his death, Platon was evacuated from

, which was about to be surrendered to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. The collected works of Platon were published in Moscow in twenty volumes in 1779–1807, the greater portion of these writings being sermons, of which there are about 500. An abridged English translation of Platon's catechism was prepared from a Greek version of the Russian original (London, 1867), and his sermon preached at the request of the empress to celebrate the victory of Chesma also appeared in English (London, 1770).

Notes

References

* *

External links

* *
Site scientific theological portal "bogoslov.ru" and the Savior of Bethany monastery, dedicated to the life and works of Platon Levshin
*

in the Biographical Dictionary of Alexander Men *
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levshin, Platon Russian theologians Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow 1737 births 1812 deaths 18th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops 19th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Historians of the Russian Orthodox Church 18th-century Eastern Orthodox theologians 19th-century Eastern Orthodox theologians Russian historians of religion Russian scientists