Protopresbyter Boris and Matushka Elena Bobrinskoy

Protopresbyter Boris Bobrinskoy (1925-2020)

and

Matushka Elena Bobrinskoy (born Disterlo) (1934-2021)

Bobrinskoy may be spelt Bobrinskoï, Bobrinsky, Bobrinskiy.

Alekseyevich may be spelt Alexeïevitch, Alexeyevich.

Early life of Boris Alekseyevich Bobrinskoy

On 25 February, 1925, Boris Alekseyevich Bobrinskoy was born in Paris, France, to Count Alexei Alekseyevich Bobrinskoy (a descendant of Catherine II and Count Grigory Orlov) and Countess Natalya Pavlovna Ferzen. Count Alexei Alekseyevich and his wife had left Russia in 1916, just before the two Russian Revolutions of 1917.

Boris Alekseyevich was raised an Orthodox Christian (in his family, and especially in school) within the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church in France.

When Boris Alekseyevich was still very young, his mother Natalya Pavlovna reposed in Christ. She had suffered from Parkinson's Disease. His father, a well-known travel author in Russia, had left, and he reposed in Italy in 1938.

Childhood and school

Boris Alekseyevich (a hereditary count as his father) was sent to study at Saint George's Boarding School in Meudon, Haut-de-Seine, France, from which he graduated. He found that the Orthodox Christian priests provided a good example for his own life. A sense that he should eventually become a priest entered his heart and remained there.

He then was sent to Belgium, to a Jesuit boarding-school, where he completed the "gymnasium"-level courses. During this time, his determination to persevere as an Orthodox Christian was refined.

In Belgium

World War II (1939-1945) caused disturbances during his education.

War-time work

In 1942 he took Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern) as his spiritual father, and he served as an acolyte at the Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on Rue Daru throughout World War II.

Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Paris

In 1944, Boris Alekseyevich received his baccalaureate.

Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern) and student Boris Bobrinskoy

Higher education

In 1944, Boris Alekseyevich entered the Saint Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute on Rue de Crimée in Paris (the same year as did John Meyendorff).

Saint Sergius Theological Institute, Paris

Boris Alekseyevich graduated from his theological studies there in 1949. He defended his Candidate thesis “The Sacrament of Chrismation amongst the Fathers of the Fourth Century”. He included the practice of administering this sacrament in the early Syro-Palestinian tradition, including the evidence of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Saint John Chrysostom, and others.

Faculty, Staff and students of the Institute (tall Boris beside Archimandrite Cyprian)

Boris Alekseyevich then began his next level of study under the direction of Mitred Archpriest Georges Florovsky, who arranged for him to study for 2 years in Athens, Greece.

From 1949 to 1951, he trained at the theological faculty of the University of Athens. He researched the manuscripts of Saint Gregory Palamas stored both on Mount Athos and in Athens. While he was in Athens, Boris Alekseyevich received pressure to be ordained as a celibate priest. However, he did not receive the blessing from Archimandrite Cyprian to follow this course.

After returning to France in 1951, he was invited to teach Christian history of the Ancient East at Saint Sergius Theological Institute.

In 1951, Boris Alekseyevich was also assigned to serve as assistant inspector in the institute.

In 1953, he was offered the Chair in Dogmatic Theology, which he accepted, and he became professor of dogmatic theology in 1954. He continued in this responsibility until 2009.

His area of special interest in dogmatics was theology of the Holy Trinity. In his teaching, Boris Alekseyevich combined the depth of biblical theology with a constant appeal to the patristic heritage.

It was at this time that he met his future wife, Elena (Hélène) Yurievna Disterlo.

Elena Disterlo

Marriage, 1957

In 1957, Boris Alekseyevich Bobrinskoy was married to Elena (Hélène) Yurievna Disterlo.

They later received from the Lord 3 children.

The parents of Elena Yurievna were both "Petersburgers" (from Saint Petersburg). Her father, Baron Yuri Romanovich Disterlo (von Düsterloh), was educated in jurisprudence, and he then fought in World War I as an officer of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. After the revolution, as part of the White Army, he crossed all of Siberia, and he served in the army of Admiral Alexander Kolchak. He lived for some time in Vladivostok, and then in China. Then he "accidentally" found his wife in Constantinople, Olga Dmitrievna Pestrzhetskaya. He had known her before, and they had been almost betrothed. Now, they got married.

After that, they moved to France and settled in Nice, where there were at that time many Russians. Elena Yurievna was born there in 1934. She spent her childhood in Nice. When she was 9 years old, already during World War II, the family moved to Paris. Elena Yurievna received her further education in Paris, where she met her future husband in meetings and assemblies of the Russian Student Christian Movement.

Diaconal ordination, 1959

In the spring of 1959 Boris Alekseyevich Bobrinskoy was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by Metropolitan Vladimir (Tikhonitsky).

Presbyteral ordination, 1959

On 18 October, 1959, Deacon Boris Bobrinskoy was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by Metropolitan Vladimir (Tikhonitsky).

Pastoral service

Priest Boris, Matushka Elena Bobrinskoy

Priest Boris Bobrinskoy was the last priest ordained by Metropolitan Vladimir (who fell asleep in the Lord in December, 1959).

Teaching and research at the University of Neuchâtel, 1965-1968

In 1965, Father Boris was invited to teach at the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

In 1965-1967 he was also engaged in academic research at the University of Neuchâtel.

Rector of Holy Trinity congregation, Paris, 1969

On 3 December, 1968, there occurred the sudden death of Archpriest Pierre Struve in an automobile accident near Paris. He had been the rector of the French-speaking church community of the Holy Trinity in the crypt of Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris.

In 1969, Father Boris was assigned to replace Father Peter as Rector of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in the crypt of Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Father Boris came to a shaken community whose composition changed somewhat.

Father Boris undertook to restore, to develop and to multiply this community by preserving, with the active participation of believers, the legacy of Father Peter Struve. Much had to be renewed, reorganised and revived : the translation of liturgical texts from Greek and Church Slavonic into French, the singing, the catechesis of children and adults. The publication of the parish bulletin became an important source of information and reflection on the life of the parish, not neglecting to mention the multitude of meaningful activities and charitable works that led to coherence and harmony in parish life.

From 1969 until 1990, Father Boris was responsible for Orthodox participation in theological teaching at the Higher Institute for Ecumenical Research at the Catholic University of Paris.

In 1971, he became one of the founders and editor-in-chief of the “Bulletin de la Crypte”.

During the 1970s, he appeared on French television in various programmes about Orthodoxy.

In February, 1973, Archbishop George (Tarasov) of Syracuse and the Archdiocese of Western Europe decided to give the community ad hoc parish status.

In 1979, together with Elena Petrovna and Yevgeny Yevgenivich Pozdeev, he founded a radio programme which broadcasted to Russia called "The Voice of Orthodoxy".

Father Boris was for a time a member of the "Faith and Order Commission" of the World Council of Churches.

Doctorate in Theology, 1986

In 1986, he successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at the Saint Sergius Theological Institute on the topic "The Resting of the Holy Spirit on Christ". He received the Ph.D. degree in theology.

Dean of Institut-Saint-Serge, 1993-2005

From 1993 to 2005 he was dean of the Saint Sergius Theological Institute.

In 1995, Archpriest Boris Bobrinskoy was elevated to the rank of protopresbyter.

In 1998 he was elected a member of the Diocesan Council of the Archdiocese of Orthodox Russian Churches in Western Europe.

Father Boris served as dean for the French-speaking parishes of the Western European Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Father Boris and Matushka Hélène Bobrinskoy

Retirement, 2009

In 2009, Protopresbyter Boris Bobrinskoy retired from teaching and from active pastoral responsibility.

He and Matushka Elena moved to Bussy-en-Othe (Bourgogne), near the Orthodox Monastery of the Protecting Veil of the Theotokos.

Monastery of All Protection, Bussy-en-Othe

Repose, 2020

Protopresbyter Boris Bobrinskoy fell asleep in the Lord in the evening of 7 August, 2020 in Bussy-en-Othe, at the age of 95.

The funeral obsequies took place at the Monastery of Our Lady of All Protection (Monastère Orthodoxe Notre Dame de Toute Protection) in Bussy-en-Othe.

On Tuesday, 11 August, 2020, the Funeral Services for the Burial of a Presbyter were served in the main Temple of the Monastery of the Protecting Veil of the Theotokos in Bussy-en-Othe. The services were led by Archbishop John (Renneteau), who was assisted by many priests and a deacon.

After the completion of the funeral services, his body was interred in the monastery's cemetery nearby.

Protopresbyter Boris Bobrinskoy was survived by his wife, Matushka Elena Bobrinskoy, their children, and their grandchildren.

Repose of Matushka Elena (Hélène) Bobrinskoy, 2021

On 19 February, 2021, Matushka Elena (Hélène) Bobrinskoy (born Disterlo) fell asleep in the Lord at Bussy-en-Othe.

On 23 February, 2021, the Funeral Service for the Burial of a Lay-person was served in the main Temple of the Monastery of the Protecting Veil of the Theotokos in Bussy-en-Othe.

After the completion of the funeral services, her body was interred in the monastery's cemetery nearby.

Protopresbyter Boris, Matushka Elena Bobrinskoy

Protopresbyter Boris, Matushka Elena Bobrinskoy, 2012

Reflections

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) in his condolences to Metropolitan John (Renneteau) wrote : “Father Boris made an invaluable contribution to spiritual enlightenment and testimony of Orthodoxy in Europe”.

His close friendship with Vladimir Lossky had a great influence on the formation of his theological vision.

Father Boris Bobrinskoy, together with Fathers Georgy Florovsky, Alexander Schmemann and John Meyendorff, are all considered to be participants in the “patristic revival” in the Russian diaspora in the second half of the 20th century.

Father Boris was a participant in the ecumenical movement.

In the WCC Tribute, it was written :

 Father Boris Bobrinskoy has been one of the great theologians of the Russian 
 diaspora and probably one of the last links in the long chain formed by Georges 
 Florovsky, Nicolas Afanassieff, Antoine Kartachev, Cyprien Kern, Léon Zander, 
 Alexandre Schmemann and Vladimir Lossky.  In addition, he worked extensively with 
 Paul Evdokimov and Olivier Clément, also well known in the ecumenical movement. [...]

Describing his long ecumenical pilgrimage, Father Boris Bobrinskoy emphasised that

 he considered it a blessing from God to have been able to participate in the ecumenical dialogue and 
 to have been constantly urged to give an account of his faith to his non-Orthodox brothers and sisters 
 in a spirit of fidelity and loyalty to the Orthodox tradition, but also of discretion and respect, 
 attentive to the impulses of the Spirit in our divided Christendom. [...]

Professor and Priest Dr Ioan Sauca, WCC interim general secretary, expressed the condolences of the entire ecumenical community, and he added his personal gratitude :

 For most of us, the late Father Boris has been a bright example of faithfulness to our own tradition 
 and openness to sisters and brothers of other confessions ; a living example of patience, humility, 
 sincerity and genuine commitment in dialoguing with sisters and brothers ; a teacher who could be 
 called great because he not only taught but he also practiced all that he taught.

Matushka Elena Yurievna Bobrinskoy was a known physicist and teacher. She was an active participant in the Russian Student Christian Movement, a member of the diocesan committee for helping parishes and fraternities in Russia, as well as a friend of radio programmes transmitted to Russia from Paris (Grad Petrov Radio).

Matushka Elena Bobrinskoy

Writings

The work of Protopresbyter Boris Bobrinskoy on the translation of liturgical texts and the introduction of Orthodox worship in French (as well as the active missionary activities of his parish) contributed to the spread of the Orthodox Christian Faith in France and Western Europe in general.

He was author of numerous theological articles published in Russian and foreign journals, including :

• ‘Concerning the new book about Immortality and Resurrection by Oskar Kulman’ in “Bulletin/'Vestnik' of the Russian Student Christian Movement (RSHD)” (1957), p. 47.

• ‘Ecumenical Meetings in Montreal’ in “Bulletin/'Vestnik' RSHD” (1963), pp. 70-71.

• ‘Christ is the Light of the World’ in “Bulletin/'Vestnik' RSHD” (1964), pp. 64-65.

• ‘The Orthodoxy of Archpriest Sergiy Bulgakov’ in “Bulletin/Vestnik of the RSHD” (1966), p. 81.

• ‘Meals of the Risen One’ in “Bulletin/'Vestnik' of the RSHD” (1971), p. 100.

• ‘Lecture on dogmatic Theology about the Holy Trinity’ in “Theological Collection”, no. 1 (1997), pp. 5-41.

• ‘Adam's Legacy from the Point of view of Father John Meyendorff’ in “Theological Collection”, no. 3 (1999), pp. 9-20.

• ‘The Mystery of the Holy Trinity’ in “Theological Collection”, no. 10 (2000), pp. 9-21.

• ‘Father Sergiy Bulgakov : Seer of the Wisdom of God’, reprinted in “Two Bulgakovs : different Destinies”, vol. 1 (Moscow : Yelets, 2002), pp. 227-247.

Amongst his larger works are included :

• “Le Mystère de la Trinité : Cours de la théologie orthodoxe” (Paris : Cerf, 1986) [The “Mystery of the Holy Trinity” - a Course in Orthodox Triadology, the result of more than 30 years of teaching at the Saint Sergius Institute. The essay reflects the main provisions of Orthodox triadology and the history of its understanding from apostolic times to the fall of Constantinople. The author shows that the Trinitarian teaching of the Holy Fathers is inseparable from the prayer life and worship. Therefore, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is revealed in the book through an appeal to both the patristic heritage and the liturgical texts. An Orthodox analysis of the Western teaching about the “Filioque” is given, the main attention is paid to the Orthodox teaching about the resting of the Holy Spirit on Christ.]

• “Communion du Saint-Ésprit” (Bellefontaine, 1992) [“Communion of the Holy Spirit” - a course in Orthodox pneumatology, touches on the dogmatic theme of the eternal resting of the Holy Spirit on Christ, considering it consistently in a Trinitarian and then ecclesiological aspect.]

• “Le Mystère de l'Église” (2000) [“The Mystery of the Church” - a course of lectures on Orthodox ecclesiology delivered at the Saint Sergius Theological Institute in Paris. The book examines the Old Testament types of the Church and shows their implementation in the New Testament time. The Church and her salvific role are viewed in inseparable connection with Orthodox triadology and Christology.]

• “La Compassion du Père”, 2000 [“The Compassion of the Father” is an attempt to give a Christian answer to the question of the meaning of suffering in the modern world. It shows how, through communion with life in Christ, a person becomes a partaker of the Father's compassionate love, overcoming his loneliness and pain.

• “List of the Writings of the Professors of the Russian Theological Institute in Paris”, ed. L. Zander (Paris : Rue de Crimée, 1965).

• “Le Dieu manifeste : Homélies” (Bussy, 1999).

• “Les cieux ouverts : Homélies” (Bussy, 2000).

Father Boris Bobrinskoy co-authored with others :

• “Orthodoxy in Life” (New York, 1953).