Martyr Andrew was born on August 3, 1872, in the city of Bezhetsk, in the family of merchant Ivan Gnevyshev. He inherited his father's occupation and engaged in the trade of flax seeds. During World War I, he was drafted to the front. After the revolution, all his property was confiscated, and he built a new house, but later it was also taken away. Andrew Ivanovich was a churchwarden at the Nikolsky Church in Bezhetsk, where he had friendly relations with Bishop Grigory Kozyrev.
In 1937, during the time of mass persecutions, he was arrested on charges of belonging to a 'church counter-revolutionary group.' During interrogations, he denied all accusations, asserting that he had no acquaintances with former merchants or clergymen. On December 27, 1937, the NKVD troika sentenced him to ten years of imprisonment in a labor camp.
Andrew Ivanovich passed away on March 7, 1941, in Kargopollag of the Arkhangelsk region and was buried in an unmarked grave.
