Levanda, John Vasilievich

Born in Kiev on Podil in the family of a shoemaker Vasily Sikachki. From childhood, he helped his father, delivering orders to clients' homes, and at that time he made friends with the son of a priest of the Resurrection Church on Podil, John Levanda. Levanda, drawing attention to a capable and knowledge-seeking boy, at his own expense brought him to the Kiev Theological Academy ^[1] , where he studied since 1748 ^[2] .

While studying at the academy, Ivan received a new surname - Levanda, according to some sources, in honor of his patron and namesake ^[1] , according to others - from the very Metropolitan Samuel (Mislavsky) , who compared the eloquence of the beginning preacher with the pleasant smell and medical qualities of lavender . After graduating from the academy in 1760, Levanda remained in it for two years as a teacher of the lower class of grammar, after which on September 28, 1763 he was ordained by the Kiev Metropolitan Arseny as priest of the Kiev-Podolsky Assumption Cathedral, in which he served for more than 20 years ^[2] .

During the plague epidemic in Kiev, which lasted from September 3, 1770 until the spring of 1772, he gained special authority as a preacher, John Levanda, who became famous for his lack of fear of the sick, whom he personally advised and comforted ^[2] . His sermons diverged in numerous lists ^[1] . In 1779, he was appointed viceroy of the “Togobodnie Dnieper churches belonging to the Kiev-Podolsk Protopopia belonging to”, in 1783 he was elevated to the rank of archpriest ^[2] , and in 1786 he was appointed the first archpriest of the renewed St. Sophia Cathedral ^[1] . The following year, during her visit to Kiev, Empress Catherine II awarded Levanda with the same golden cross with diamonds that only her confessor had before. Catherine also ordered Levanda to use a club at the service, which was an attribute of the bishop's , and not the priestly dignity ^[2] .

In 1796, Levanda was entrusted with the mission of inspecting the deanery in the churches of the region, which departed to Russia following the partition of the Commonwealth , and "instructing the priesthood there in their position." In 1797, Emperor Paul I met with Levanda during a visit to Kiev and appreciated his talent as a preacher. On October 7, 1798, Levanda was awarded a miter on a par with members of the Holy Synod from among the white clergy . In 1801, he attended the coronation of Emperor Alexander I and delivered a speech to the Empress Maria Fedorovna ^[2] . In 1806, Emperor Alexander awarded Levante the Order of St. Anne of the 2nd degree, and in 1810 - the Order of St. Anne of the 1st degree ^[1] . In 1804, he met the visiting Moscow Metropolitan Plato , who, upon returning to Moscow, sent him a gift, accompanied by a kind letter ^[2] .

Despite the flattering signs of attention from the august persons and the highest church hierarchs, the financial situation of Levanda from the time of being the cathedral archpriest remained quite difficult: 400 rubles in silver per year of full-time salary with almost complete absence of additional income, the archpriest burdened by a large family (eight children by 1778 ) for a full life was not enough. In February 1807, Levanda appealed to Emperor Alexander I with a request for a pension, but instead in 1809 received a lump sum in the amount of 1000 rubles in silver. On July 9, 1811, his house burned down during a big fire in Kiev , and for a whole week he lived in the open air “on Obolon ” and six weeks in the garden and garden of his friend near Kirillovsky ^[2] . Moreover, he found the strength to support other fire victims as a shepherd ^[1] . After that, Levanda fell seriously ill, and in 1812 his wife Euphemia died. On April 25 of the same year, his son, state adviser Alexander, “who left a bunch of orphans of both sexes,” died in St. Petersburg . John Levanda lived after this for another two years, but it was a “slow fading, occasionally interrupted by outbursts of patriotism” in connection with the then World War II against the French. These patriotic feelings that worried Levanda were expressed by him in letters to different people ^[2] .

John Levanda died on June 25, 1814 at the age of 80, was buried on June 27 in the Annunciation chapel of St. Sophia Cathedral. Levanda became the only representative of the white clergy buried in St. Sophia Cathedral. The rest of the Kiev metropolitans buried in this temple were monks ^[3] . After his death, there was no condition left, and his daughter Maria was granted a pension of 600 rubles a year; almost the only property left after Levanda, the library, which included about 600 volumes, was acquired for the Kiev Theological Academy ^[2] .

Archpriest Levanda, who received the nickname “Kiev Chrysostom” from his contemporaries, did not seek to publish his sermons and speeches, and during his lifetime only a small part was printed; at the same time, manuscript lists of his teachings, often from autographs, were made quite often ^[2] . Records of more than 200 Levandan sermons have been preserved, but Vladimir Botsyanovsky in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary estimates the number of sermons delivered as twice as many. Entire manuscript collections of Levanda’s sermons were distributed in large numbers during the author’s lifetime and were even available to Emperor Alexander I and Prince A. N. Golitsyn ^[4] . From one of these lists, Levanda's words and speeches were first printed by D.V. Pokhorsky in 1821 in three parts. This publication did not include all the famous speeches of Levanda (including even some speeches printed earlier in the “ Son of the Fatherland ” were missed), and was full of typos and distortions, but a more complete and accurate version was never published. Separate unpublished sermons of the archpriest were published in “ Christian Reading ” for 1832 and in “Kiev Diocesan Vedomosti” for 1863 and 1864. A few more were placed together with the biography of Levanda written by professors F. Ternovsky and S. Golubev in “ Works of the Kiev Theological Academy ” for 1878; in the October issue of this magazine 8 words and 15 speeches of Levanda were published, as well as a critical review of his sermons. In this and two subsequent issues of the journal 474 letters of Levanda were posted ^[2] .

Already at the end of the 19th century, despite the reputation of a preacher, researchers wondered why Levanda's sermons were so famous and popular. According to Vladimir Botsyanovsky’s assessment, “they are written in a rather original, elegant language, abound in spectacular rhetorical places, but they are nothing special in content”. In his sermons, Lewanda never touched on the issues of public life. The reigns of Catherine II, Paul I and Alexander I are present in his sermons, but are poorly reflected, theological scholarship, according to critics, is also not observed in them. The reason for his success was perhaps the sincere enthusiasm with which he spoke. At the beginning of his career, Levanda, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, loved in the traditions of the Polish school to fill his sermons with jokes, stories about animals and birds, but later he began to clothe them "in a light, living, purely Russian form." Levanda, for whose character monastic asceticism was alien, taught not so much to break off ties with the world, how to put up with his imperfections, patiently endure all sorts of hardships, “live as he runs”, because “the light for us will not be poured into new forms” ^{[4 ]} .

Among the friends of John Levanda were such cultural figures as Grigory Skovoroda , Panas Lobisevich , Vasily Kapnist , Athanasius Shafonsky ^[1] , he was often visited by Gabriel Derzhavin , who “always came back from him with particular pleasure”. It is from letters of Levanda to friends and acquaintances, as well as from the text “Travel to Midday Russia” by Vladimir Izmailov, that at present we can draw conclusions about his character and personality. The moral personality of Archpriest Levanda is known largely thanks to his letters to friends and acquaintances, as well as in one of Izmailov's letters. In 1872, one of the biographers of Levanda wrote: “... his fame and love for him are still alive between the inhabitants of Kiev. A rare family does not have a portrait of Levanda, and rarely does anyone enthusiastically recall a glorious preacher. ” One portrait of Levanda hung in the solemn hall of the Kiev Academy, the other - in the church and archaeological museum at the same academy ^[2] . Until the 21st century, only two well-known portraits of John Levanda were preserved - both by unknown artists. These portraits were included in the exhibition “Kiev Chrysostom“ John Levanda ”, organized in 2014 on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his death ^[3] .

In 1869, Geysovskaya Street in Pechersk (one of the historical districts of Kiev) was renamed in honor of John Levanda to Levandovskaya ^[5] . In 1940, it was renamed Anishchenko Street in honor of an employee of the Arsenal plant, who died in 1919 in a battle with Petliurites ^[6] , but in December 2014 it was returned its historical name ^[7] .

• Levanda, John Vasilievich // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M. , 1896-1918.
• Levanda, John Vasilievich // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• P.V. Golobutsky. Levanda Ivan (Іoann) Vasilovich // Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine / Editorial: V. A. Smoliy (head) and ін. - K .: Naukova Dumka, 2009. - T. 6: La-Mi.