Anthim the Iberian

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the Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Feast13 June (Georgian)
27 September (Romanian)

Anthim the Iberian (

Metropolitan of Bucharest
in 1708–1715.

Early life

Anthim's coat of arms in an 18th-century manuscript

Anthim was born in the

Kingdom of Kartli, a Georgian kingdom then known as Iberia in the west. Anthim was taken prisoner by Ottoman troops, and sold in the slave market at Constantinople. He was trained as an artisan, learning wood sculpting, painting, embroidery, and calligraphy.[2] At some point he was ransomed by the Patriarch of Constantinople. He took orders in Istanbul, while living on the compounds of the Patriarchate.[3] Patriarch Dositheos traveled to Iași
, taking Anthim with him. A Greek printing office had been established there in 1682.

In Wallachia

In 1689 he was asked to settle in Wallachia by

Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu, and in 1691 was given charge of the newly founded printing press in Bucharest.[1] In 1693, he published the Gospels in Romanian. In 1695, being appointed father superior (egumen) of the Snagov Monastery, and established a printing office at the new location.[3]

Anthim spoke and wrote Greek, Turkish, and Arabic. He soon acquired a thorough knowledge of Romanian, and was instrumental in helping to introduce that language into the local church as its official language.[4] In 1702 he returned to Bucharest.

He became bishop of Râmnic in 1705, and in 1708 Metropolitan of Wallachia.[4]

In 1709 Anthim was a founder of the first Georgian printing press in

Arabic (usually in bilingual volumes, such as the Greek-Arabic Missal of 1702); this meant that he was also the first in Wallachia to use Arabic fonts
.

His homiletic work, the Didache,[5] was a collection of sermons meant as a sharp critique of contemporary habits and morals; notably, beside Christian sources, Anthim made reference to classical philosophy. Alongside his literary output, the cleric was the builder of the All-Saints Monastery in Bucharest, now known as the Antim Monastery in his memory.[5]

Death

Anthim's overt opposition to Ottoman tutelage over Wallachia made him an adversary of the

Phanariote regime. The new Prince Nicholas Mavrocordatos imprisoned him, and subsequently exiled him to Mount Sinai. Anthim was captured by the Ottomans while making the trip, and assassinated somewhere in modern-day Bulgaria (his body would have been discarded in the Maritsa or the Tundzha
). It is alleged that his murder was ordered by Mavrocordatos himself.

Canonisation

Anthim the Iberian on a 2013 stamp of Romania.

In 1992 Anthim was canonised by the Romanian Orthodox Church having his saint day on September 27.[5] In memory of 300 years of his death, Romanian Orthodox Church declared 2016 as Saint Anthim the Iverian year.[6]

Legacy

In the modern day, Anthim represents a symbol of the relations between Georgia and Romania.[7]

A rugby union trophy, the Antim Cup, contested between Romania and Georgia every year, is named after him.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Maxim Marian Vlad. (2020). "The Testamentary and Philanthropic Value of the Settlement Bequeathed to All Saints’ Monastery by Its Founder, Saint Anthim the Iberian, Metropolitan Bishop of Wallachia". Technium Social Sciences Journal, 13(1), 551–560
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780802822321
  3. ^ a b "Anthimus of Iberia", in Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007 edition. Retrieved May 23, 2007,
  4. ^ a b c  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gaster, Moses (1911). "Anthim the Iberian". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 94. citing M. Gaster, Chrestomathie roumaine (1881) and "Gesch. d. rumänischen Litteratur," in Grober, Grundriss d. rom. Philologie, vol. ii. (1899); and E. Picot, Notice sur Anthim d'Ivir (Paris, 1886).
  5. ^ a b c "St. Antim of Iberia, Martyr Metropolit of Romania (1650-1716)", Saint John the Evangelist Pomanian Orthodox chirch, Toronto
  6. ^ Site-ul oficial al Patriarhiei Române: 2016 – Anul omagial al educației religioase a tineretului creștin ortodox și Anul comemorativ al Sfântului Ierarh Martir Antim Ivireanul și al tipografilor bisericești, accessed 20 November 2016
  7. ^ "ურთიერთობები საქართველოსა და რუმინეთს შორის" (in Georgian). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  8. ^ "საქართველოს ნაკრებს ანთიმოზ ივერიელის თასი პრემიერ-მინისტრმა გადასცა (VIDEO)". MyRugby.ge (in Georgian). 28 March 2021.

Sources

  • "Antimoz Iverieli", in Sakartvelo Encyclopedia, Vol. I, Tbilisi, 1997, p. 158
  • Otar Gvinchidze, Antimoz Iverieli, Tbilisi, 1973
  • București
    , 1968, p. 19
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