TO ASSESS THE CONTRIBUTION OF NIKOLAI DURNOVO

Abstract

One of the most difficult periods in the history of the Georgian Apostolic Orthodox Church was the era of the Exarchate, which lasted from 1811 to 1917. This period is, of course, evaluated by historians of the Church’s history, but what is particularly interesting and commendable is when the history of this extremely challenging and obstacle-filled era of the Georgian Church is objectively assessed by the Russian scholar, historian, and philologist N. N. Durnovo.

The name of N. N. Durnovo is primarily associated with his work "The Fate of the Georgian Church." There is little known about this individual otherwise.

The aim of this paper is to revisit the personality of N. N. Durnovo and his views on the issue of the autocephaly of the Georgian Church, based on materials preserved in the National Archive of Georgia. As the studied archival documents show, the restoration of the Georgian Church's autocephaly did not mark the end of Durnovo's thoughts on the Georgian Church. For him, it appears that the restoration of Georgia's independence was also an extremely important issue.Keywords:ApostolicOrthodoxChurchofGeorgia;Catholicos-PatriarchofAllGeorgiaKirionII;Catholicos-PatriarchofAllGeorgiaLeonideOkropiridze.

      Keywords: The autocephaly of the Georgian Apostolic Church; N. N. Durnovo; The Fate of the Georgian Church.