Eugenios Voulgaris
His Eminence Eugenios Voulgaris | |
---|---|
Archbishop of Cherson | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1716 |
Died | 1806 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
Eugenios Voulgaris or Boulgaris
Youth and education
He was born on the island of Corfu, ruled by the Republic of Venice at that time, as Eleftherios Vulgares on 10 August 1716. He studied in Corfu under Vikentios Damodos, a scholar, and continued his studies in the School of Ioannina (in western Greece) under Athanasios Psalidas.
In 1737 or 1738 he became a monk and presbyter with the name Eugenios, and afterwards went to the University of Padua to study theology, philosophy, European languages and natural sciences.
Teacher of the Greek nation
In 1742, Boulgaris became director of an important school of Ioannina, the Maroutsaia. There he was involved in a public dispute with Balanos Vasilopoulos, who was the director of another high level school of the city, regarding the curricula of their respective schools – Voulgaris arguing for the institution of natural philosophy.
From 1753 to 1759 Voulgaris was director of the
He then temporarily headed the Patriarchal Academy in Constantinople (known to Greeks as the "
Although Eugenios was associated by some Orthodox Christians with the unsuccessful attempt to found a Western-style academy on Mt. Athos and at the Patriarchal Academy, he was also a strong opponent of
In Russia
After his unsuccessful attempts to introduce Enlightenment ideas to the Athonite School and Patriarchal Academy Eugenios accepted the patronage of the Russian Empress
In 1775 he was ordained archbishop, and became the first archbishop of the newly created Eparchy (Diocese) of Slaviansk and Cherson.[dubious ]
The new diocese included lands of the Novorossiya and Azov Governorates north of the Black Sea, recently conquered by Russia from the Ottoman Crimean Khanate.
Along with Russians and Ukrainians Orthodox Greeks were invited to settle in the region, and the Imperial Government thought it appropriate to appoint a Greek-speaking bishop to preside over the new diocese.
In 1787 Boulgaris was allowed to move to St. Petersburg. From 1801 until the end of his life the retired bishop lived there in Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In 1788 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.[8]
He died on 12 June 1806, and was buried in the Lavra's Church of St. Theodor (Fyodorovskaya Tserkov)[5]
Orthodox Christianity and the Enlightenment
The 18th century dawned in the
Greek language question
The discussion on the
The humanist scholar Adamantios Korais (1748–1833) also influenced this discussion. While supporting the language of the people, Korais sought to 'cleanse' it from elements that he considered 'vulgar' and evolved the 'purifying' or Katharevousa forms, which were supposedly set at some midpoint between ancient and contemporary Greek.
Treatise on euthanasia
In his Treatise on Euthanasia (1804), Bishop Eugenios tried to moderate the fear of death by exalting the power of faith and trust in the divine providence, and by presenting death as a universal necessity, a curative physician and a safe harbour. He presented his views in the form of a consoling sermon, enriched with references to classical texts, the Bible and the Church Fathers, as well as to secular sources, including statistics from contemporary Britain and France. Besides euthanasia he introduced terms such as dysthanasia (δυσθανασία), etoimothanasia (ἑτοιμοθανασία) and prothanasia (προθανασία). The Treatise on Euthanasia is one of the first books, if not the very first, devoted to euthanasia in modern European thought, and a remarkable text for the study of developing attitudes towards "good death". In the Treatise 'euthanasia' is clearly meant as a spiritual preparation and reconciliation with dying rather than the physician-related mercy-killing that the term came to mean during the 19th and the 20th centuries. This text has been studied not only by the historian of medical or religious ethics, but by many trying to confront death, in private or professional settings.[11]
Literary works
- Logic (Λογική; Loghiki), Leipzig, 1766.
- Treatise on Religious Toleration (Σχεδίασμα περὶ Ἀνεξιθρησκείας; Schediasma peri anexithreskeias), 1767.
- Treatise on Euthanasia, St Petersburg, 1804.
- Elements of Metaphysics, Venice, 1805.
- What Philosophers Prefer, Vienna, 1805.
- About the Universe, Vienna, 1805.
- He also translated (but did not publish) the works of the late 17th-century figures:
- John Locke (1632–1704),
- Christian Wolff (1679–1754),
- Voltaire (1694–1778),
- Du Hamel (1624–1706), and
- Edmond Pourchot (1651–1734).
See also
- Diafotismos
- Age of Enlightenment
References
- ^ Department of History of the Ionian University is organizing an International Conference under the title: “Eugenios Boulgaris: The Man and his Works”
- ^ M. Patiniotis V. Spyropoulou (14 May 2021). "Eugenios Voulgaris". Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Athens. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
- ^ Pierre Leclerc: French Catholic Jansenist, persecuted for his beliefs, who became an outspoken advocate of Eastern theological positions and corresponded with the Greek monk Eugene Bulgaris about the restoration of Orthodoxy to the West.
- ^ Constantine Cavarnos. Orthodox Tradition and Modernism. Transl. from the Greek by Patrick G. Barker. Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, Etna, California, 1992. pp. 17.
- ^ a b c Евгений Булгарис (Eugenios Voulgaris's biography) (in Russian)
- ^ ISBN 0-87395-071-2.
- ^ Никифор Феотоки (Nikephoros Theotoki's biography) (in Russian)
- ^ "Fellow Details". Royal Society. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
- ^ a b Michael Angold (Ed.). Eastern Christianity. The Cambridge History of Christianity. Cambridge University Press, 2006. pp.202.
- ^ Mackridge P. Language and National Identity in Greece 1766–1976. New York: Oxford University Press. 2009. Pp. xiv, 385
- ^ Galanakis, E., and I.D.K. Dimoliatis. "Early European attitudes towards "good death": Eugenios Voulgaris, Treatise on euthanasia, St Petersburg, 1804." Journal of Medical Ethics. 33.6 (June 2007): S1(4).
Sources
- Galanakis, E., and I. D. K. Dimoliatis. "Early European attitudes towards "good death": Eugenios Voulgaris, Treatise on euthanasia, St Petersburg, 1804." Journal of Medical Ethics. 33.6 (June 2007): S1(4).
- Eugenios Voulgaris Bibliography at 18th Century Bibliography Archived 21 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
- Eugene Bulgaris, Archbishop of Cherson at St. Pachomius Library.
- Towards the Revolution: Inspired Absolutism: Reforms
- Michael Angold (Ed.). Eastern Christianity. The Cambridge History of Christianity. Cambridge University Press, 2006.
- Dimitris Dialetis, Costas Gavroglu and Manolis Patiniotis (Univ. of Athens). The Sciences in the Greek Speaking Regions during the 17th and 18th Centuries, in "The Sciences at the Periphery of Europe During the 18th Century'’, Archimedes, Vol. 2, 1997, Kluwer Academic Publishers.
- Constantine Cavarnos. Orthodox Tradition and Modernism. Transl. from the Greek by Patrick G. Barker. Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, Etna, California, 1992.
- As of 23 October 2009, this article is derived in whole or in part from Orthodox Wiki. The copyright holder has licensed the content in a manner that permits reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed. The original text was at "Eugenios Voulgaris"
Further reading
- S. K. Batalden, Catherine II's Greek Prelate: Eugenios Voulgaris in Russia, 1771–1806. (East European Monographs, 1982.) 197pp. ISBN 978-0-88033-006-0
- A. Koromelas, Epistle of Eugenios Voulgaris to Pierre Leclerc (Athens, 1844).
External links
- Media related to Eugenios Voulgaris at Wikimedia Commons