The Hieromartyr Ephraim was born on January 28, 1874, in the settlement of Petrovki, Ananyev Uyezd, Kherson Governorate. He was the son of Archpriest Ephraim Pavlovich Dolganev, who later became Archimandrite Innokenty, and the brother of Bishop Hermogenes (Dolganev). Saint John of Kronstadt regarded Bishop Hermogenes with great love and respect, saying that he was at peace concerning the future of Orthodoxy and could die knowing that Bishops Hermogenes and Seraphim (Chichagov, commemorated on November 28) would continue his work. Foretelling the hierarch’s martyrdom, Father John wrote to him in 1906: “You are engaged in a spiritual struggle; the Lord opens Heaven to you, as He did to Archdeacon Stephen, and blesses you.”
Ephraim was sixteen years younger than Bishop Hermogenes. After graduating from the Odessa Theological School, he entered the Odessa Theological Seminary in 1887. He graduated in 1893 with first-class honors and, despite severe financial hardship, continued his studies at the Moscow Theological Academy. During his studies, Ephraim endured extreme poverty, yet he was prepared to bear any hardship if only he might be deemed worthy to serve the Church, celebrate the Divine Liturgy, and preach the word of God.
Ephraim Dolganev married Varvara, the daughter of a priest of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Saint Petersburg, and soon after the wedding he entered the priesthood. On January 28, 1902, Ephraim Dolganev was ordained a priest.
After the February Revolution of 1917, Father Ephraim moved with his family to Tobolsk, where Bishop Hermogenes was serving at that time. In April 1918, however, the bishop was arrested by the Bolsheviks and taken to Yekaterinburg.
After his brother’s arrest, Archpriest Ephraim joined a diocesan delegation seeking the release of the archpastor. The delegation also included Priest Mikhail Makarov and attorney K. A. Minyatov. Their efforts ended with the arrest of all three. Soon afterward, they were executed by firing squad.
In August 2000, at the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Hieromartyrs Hermogenes, Ephraim, Peter, and Mikhail, together with the Martyr Konstantin, were numbered among the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church for universal veneration.
