Presbyter
He was born on September 20, 1892, in Saratov. His father, Ambarcum Egorovich, was one of the founders of education for the deaf-mute in Russia. After the death of his wife, he moved with three children to the German colony of Sarepta, where he married Karolina Knobloch. The family had three more children, the youngest of whom was he. In Saratov, his father ran a private school for the deaf-mute but went bankrupt and moved to Moscow.
He studied at the Moscow Petropavlovsk School, then in Berlin, where he became acquainted with the Christian youth movement. In 1914, he returned to Russia, enrolled in the physics and mathematics faculty of Moscow University, and became a member of the Christian student circle, accepting baptism. In 1916, he married Valentina Alexeeva.
During the Civil War, he moved to Samara, where he organized about ten Christian circles. In 1920, he was arrested but was soon released. Upon returning to Moscow, he continued his active work in the Christian movement, organizing classes and conferences. In 1923, his wife died, leaving two children. The care of the children was taken over by Maria Alexeyevna Zhuchkova.
In 1924, Christian circles were banned, but he continued his activities illegally. In 1925, he accepted Orthodoxy and began serving in the Nikolsky Church. In 1927, he was ordained as a deacon and then as a priest. He served in the Prince Vladimir Church, caring for the youth and the church choir.
In 1931, he left the clergy, and in 1932, he was arrested as a participant in a counter-revolutionary organization. After interrogation, he was sentenced to exile but was released. In 1937, mass arrests began, and he was arrested again. On November 3, 1937, he was sentenced to death and executed on November 5, buried in an unmarked grave at the Butovo firing range near Moscow.
