Archpriest Dmitry and Matushka Galina Grigorieff
Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff (1919-2007)
and
Galina Vladimirovna Grigorieff (born Bogdanovich) (1925-1998)
Dmitry may be spelt Dmitri, Dimitri, Demetrius.
Grigorieff may be spelt Grigoriev, Gregoriev.
Early life of Dmitry Grigorieff
Dmitri Dmitrievich Felix Grigorieff was born on 14 May, 1919, in London, England, United Kingdom, to Dmitry Dmitrievich Grigoreff and his wife Olga Aleksandrovna (born Presnyakova). Dmitri was the youngest child of his parents. His elder sister, Tamara Dmitrievna, was 9 years older than he. His father had been previously married, from which marriage were a half-brother and half-sister who were already adults when he was born.
Dmitry Dmitrievich Grigorieff (senior) had served as Vice-Governor of Arkhangelsk, as Vice-Governor of Vyatka, and then as Governor of the Sakhalin Region, and he held the rank of State Councillor. He retired from these responsibilities in 1916, and he returned to Saint Petersburg. There, he served on the board of the Imperial Red Cross until 1917, when he and his family fled to first to Riga, Latvia, then to London, England, and then to the Empire of Japan. After an unsuccessful attempt to establish an autonomous Sakhalin State under Japan, he returned to live in Riga in 1923. He was a delegate to the Russian Foreign Congress in Paris in 1926. He fell asleep in Christ in Riga in 1932.
In 1920, Dmitri Dmitrievich (junior) was baptised into the Orthodox Christian Church at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Cathedral (nicknamed Nikolai-do) in Tokyo, Japan. For some reason, in addition to the customary patronymic “middle-name”, Dmitri also had the name Felix.
Holy Resurrection Cathedral, Tokyo
Deep faith in God, instilled by his family, took root in his soul in childhood. This deep faith remained active in him throughout his life. No matter where he was led later by Divine Providence, his first home in any new location was the Church.
The family returned to Riga in 1923, after the end of the Russian Civil War. There, Dmitri Dmitrievich began studying at the Riga Government Russian Gymnasium, and after 1936, at the Orthodox Theological Institute.
Riga Orthodox Theological Institute
Bereavement, 1932
On 2 July, 1932, Dmitry Dmitrievich Grigoriev (senior) reposed in Christ, suddenly.
The Funeral Services for the Burial of a Lay-person were offered for him in Riga.
After the conclusion of the funeral obsequies, his body was interred in the Pokrovsky Cemetery in Riga.
Service abroad : Australia
A British citizen, Dmitri was able to leave Riga during World War II, and he moved to Australia. He served in the British Merchant Marines in the Pacific Ocean from 1943 to 1944. This move to Australia was Providential in that he was spared some of the disruption that occurred in Latvia during and after World War II ; but it also proved to be the beginning of his living as an exile from his homeland.
Emigration to USA, 1945
In 1945, Dmitry Dmitrievich emigrated to the USA, and he began to live and work in New York City.
In New York, he worked in the British Office of War Information.
Higher education
In addition to his work, Dmitri entered Yale University.
In 1948, Dmitry Grigorieff (junior) graduated from Yale University with a master's degree in linguistics and comparative literature.
Bereavement, 1949
In 1949, Tamara Dmitrievna Grigorievna, the elder sister of Dmitry Dmitrievich, fell asleep in the Lord in Riga.
The Funeral Services for the Burial of a Lay-person were offered for her in Riga.
Her body was interred in the Pokrovsky Cemetery in Riga.
Teaching, further education, teaching
Afterwards, he taught Russian at the of California in San Francisco, and at the School of Military Translators in Monterey, California.
While he was teaching there, he was a member of the Diocesan Council of the Western Diocese of the Russian Church in America.
It was during his time in Monterey that Dmitry met his future wife, Galina Vladimirovna Bogdanovich who was visiting from New Zealand at that time. They were later married in 1961 in New York where Dmitry was teaching at Columbia University in New York City. Meanwhile, they kept in active correspondence. During the course of their communication, Galina Vladimirovna became Dmitry’s faithful friend : the best foundation for a possible marriage.
Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary
In about 1955, Dmitri entered Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, where he completed the theological education he had begun in Riga, Latvia. At that time, Saint Vladimir's Seminary was subsisting in a group of rented apartments associated with Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary at West 121 Street and Broadway Avenue in New York City.
Archpriest Alexander Schmemann was his first spiritual father in North America, although their difference in age was negligible.
While he had been studying at the seminary, Dmitry Dmitrievich had been teaching Church Slavonic in that seminary, while at the same time, he was teaching at Columbia University, and studying also at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1958, Dmitry Dmitrievich graduated from Saint Vladimir’s Seminary in New York City.
In the same year, he received a PhD in Slavic Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.
By this time Dmitri Grigorieff had become known as a scholar of author Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Until the summer of 1962, he taught at Columbia University in New York . He also served as an advisor to Orthodox students there.
Marriage, 1961
In 1961, Dmitry Dmitrievich Grigorieff was married to Galina Vladimirovna Bogdanovich Pechorin in New York City, where he was teaching at Columbia University. Archpriest Alexander Schmemann led the service of blessing the marriage.
Galina Vladimirovna Bogdanovich, daughter of Vladimir Samuilovich Bogdanovich (“Pechorin”) and Tatiana Bogdanovich, was from an artistic, Russian family of Orthodox believers that had arrived in New Zealand after World War II. Before the war, in Tallinn, Estonia, she and her father had participated in performances. She danced, and she sang (she was blessed with a good voice). She played a variety of musical instruments and, most importantly for her future life, she knew Church music.
Dmitry Dmitrievich was still a lecturer amongst the faculty of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary in 1962. Both as a student, and then as a teacher, Dmitry would have had contact with students from the Archdiocese of Canada.
Dmitry Grigorieff at Saint Vladimir's, 1962
Georgetown University
In the context of his teaching, from 1959, Dmitry Grigorieff taught Russian language and literature at Georgetown University, up until 1989.
It was from the time of his teaching at Georgetown University that he became associated with Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, DC.
From 1965, he served as an associate professor and then full professor of Russian language and literature and then head of the department of Slavic studies at Georgetown University in Washington.
Dmitry Grigoriev never forgot about his historical homeland. He first managed to visit the USSR in 1965.
He visited Moscow and Saint Petersburg (Leningrad)several times, and he made a pilgrimage trip along the Yenisei River from Krasnoyarsk to Dudinka and Norilsk.
He was also in Riga, where he visited the graves of his parents and of his sister Tamara at the Pokrovsky cemetery. There, he met also with some of his former classmates.
Ordinations, 1969
In 1969, Dmitry Grigorieff (Junior) was ordained to the Holy Diaconate, and then to the Holy Priesthood at Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, DC.
Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Washington, DC
Pastoral Service
Priest Dmitry Grigorieff was assigned to serve at Saint Nicholas Cathedral as second priest.
Father Dmitry had become a priest at the age of 50. As he, himself, said, he was not ready before then.
Father Dmitry and Matushka Galina
At the same time, he was offered a position as professor at Georgetown University, and concurrently he became provost at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, a trustworthy helper to the beloved Dean, Archpriest Arkady Moiseev.
Father Dmitry and Matushka Galina Grigorieff, at Pascha
The parishioners of Saint Nicholas embraced the new priest and his Matushka from their hearts. The parish grew and was strengthened ; and their small house on Onondaga Road in Bethesda, Maryland (not far from Washington), became the centre of Church, spiritual, and cultural life, not only for both old and new parishioners, but also for employees of the Russian Embassy (for much of his life there, the Soviet Embassy). During the years of atheism under the Soviet Government, Father Dmitry baptised and married many of them in secret. Their home was welcoming for all Orthodox and non-Orthodox in the metropolitan area.
During the 1970s, Father Dmitry Grigorieff introduced regular English-language Divine services to the Cathedral.
Bereavement, 1973, 1975
In 1973, Tatiana Bogdanovich, mother of Matushka Galina V Grigorieff, fell asleep in the Lord in New Zealand.
In 1975, Vladimir S Bogdanovich ("Pechorin"), father of Matushka Galina V Grigorieff, fell asleep in the Lord in New Zealand.
Memorial Marker for Vladimir S Bogdanovich "Pechorin" and Tatiana Bogdanovich of New Zealand
Rector of Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Washington, 1985
In 1985, Priest Dmitry Grigorieff was assigned to serve as rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Washington. He was elevated by the Holy Synod to the dignity of archpriest.
In 1986, he was named Dean of the Cathedral.
Archpriest Dmitry and Matushka Galina Grigorieff
In 1989, Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff retired from teaching at Georgetown University.
In 1998, in semi-retirement, he was given the title Dean Emeritus. At that time, Priest Constantine White was assigned to serve as Dean of the Cathedral.
Bereavement, 1998
In 1998, Matushka Galina Grigorieff fell asleep in the Lord at Delaware.
The Funeral Services for the Burial of a Lay-person were offered for Matushka Galina Grigorieff at Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, DC. Following the funeral obsequies, her body was interred at the Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, DC.
Grave-marker for Matushka Galina V Grigorieff (born Bogdanovich)
Continuing activity
Father Dmitry continued to publish books, in both English and Russian, on the topics of linguistics and religion. His work "Dostoevsky and the Church," was published in 2002 in Moscow.
On Sunday, 16 May, 2004, Archpriest Dmitri Grigorieff served the Divine Liturgy at Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, D.C., on the occasion of his 85th birthday, and the 35th anniversary of his ordination to the Holy Priesthood. He was assisted by his successor as dean, Archpriest Constantine White, and other clergy, including Protopresbyter Robert Kondratick, who represented Metropolitan Herman (Swaiko).
At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, Protopresbyter Robert Kondratick (on behalf of Metropolitan Herman and the Holy Synod of Bishops) presented him the Award of Saint Innocent, Silver Cross.
Presentation of the Order of Saint Innocent
During the last few years of his life, his health weakened, and Father Grigorieff began a prolonged period of illness.
Repose, 2007
On 8 December, 2007, Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff fell asleep in the Lord at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington D.C. He had suffered a cardiac arrest. Father Grigorieff was at that time, still a resident of Bethesda, Maryland (not far from Washington, DC.
On Thursday, 13 December, 2007, at 9:00 a.m., the body of Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff was brought to Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, DC. A Divine Liturgy for the Feast of Saint Herman of Alaska was celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on that day. That evening, the Cathedral was open at 6:00 p.m., and a Panikhida (Memorial Service) was served at 7:00 p.m.
On Friday, 14 December, the Cathedral was open for visitation at 5 p.m. Afterwards, at 7:00 p.m., the Funeral Service for the Burial of a Priest was offered. It was led by Metropolitan Herman (Swaiko), and he was assisted by the cathedral clergy and others.
Funeral Service
On Saturday, 15 December, at 9:00 a.m., the Memorial Divine Liturgy was be celebrated at the Cathedral.
Following the funeral obsequies, the body of Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff was interred at Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, DC.
Grave-marker Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff
Reflections
Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff preached with faith that the Church was the only moral entity uniting people, granting them empathy and mercy. The words “love God, treat one another with love and patience” could be heard in all his sermons. Thanks to his efforts, services began to be served in both English and Russian. Thanks to his creative talents and good taste, parishioners enjoyed a beautiful Cathedral and Bell Tower, which today are among Washington’s notable landmarks. Father Dmitry gave generously of the full depth of his Orthodox Christian Faith, his intellect, his deep knowledge of history, literature, and poetry, and his spiritual warmth to people and to service to the Church.
Awards and honours :
Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff was awarded the Order of Saint Innocent by Patriarch Aleksey II (Ridiger) of the Russian Orthodox Church. This marked the first time that the order had been awarded to a priest in the USA.
Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff was awarded the Order of Saint Innocent by the Holy Synod of Bishops of The Orthodox Church in America.
Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff was awarded the Order of the Holy Equals-of-the-Apostles Cyrill and Methodius by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Czechoslovakia.
Writings
Articles by and about Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff were published in periodicals of Saint Vladimir’s Theological Seminary in New York (in English) ; in Notes of the Russian Academic Group of the USA ; in the collections "Free Thought" in Munich ; in The Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate ; and in other publications. The main themes of creativity are the philosophy of F M Dostoevsky ; the Orthodox roots of Russian culture ; the Russian religious renaissance of the early 20th century.
“Dostoevsky and the Church”
“From Ancient Valaam to the New World”.
“Historical Background of Orthodoxy in America” (Saint Vladimir’s Quarterly, vol.5) (The Russian Review Vol. 31, No. 2 (April, 1972), pp. 138-152.
“Pasternak and Dostoevsky” (Slavic and East European Journal vol. 17, 4) The Slavic and East European Journal Vol. 3, No. 4 (Winter, 1959), pp. 335-342 (8 pages) Published By: American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages
Russian Orthodox Mission in North America (Moscow : Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, 1990), no. 12 ; (1991), nos. 1, 3.
“Dostoevsky and the Church : At the Origins of the Writer's Religious Beliefs” (Moscow : Saint Tikhon Orthodox Theological Institute, 2002).
"Pasternak and Dostoevsky" (The Slavic and East European Journal, 1959), vol. 67.
"The Last Year, Death and Burial of Fedor M. Dostoevsky" (New York, 1981).
"The death and burial of F Dostoevsky. (On the Spiritual Image of the Writer)" (New York : Notes of the Russian Academic Group in the USA, 1981), vol. 14.
'The Orthodox Church in America : A Historical Survey' in "Russian Review", vol. 31, no. 2 (April, 1972), pp.138-152.
"The History of the Orthodox Church in America", Grenier, Paul, tr., Meerson, Michael Axionov, ed. (New York : Christ the Saviour Cathedral, 2015). ISBN : 9781312952836.
References
Wikipedia biography of Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff
Russian Religious Workers Abroad biography
Additional information :
Irina Evsikova "Biographical sketch of the life of Archpriest Dmitry Grigoriev"
Gerich, Andrei, “In Memory of Father Dmitry Grigorieff” (St. Nicholas Newswire, Spring, 2009), pp. 8-10.
OCA article about the 35th Anniversary of Priesthood of Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff (16 May, 2004)
Findagrave reference for Vladimir S Bogdanovich
Findagrave reference for Galina Grigorieff
Findagrave reference for Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff
“One of the oldest clergymen of the Orthodox Church in America, Archpriest Dimitry Grigoriev, has died” (Official website of the Moscow Patriarchate) (9 December, 2007)
Wikipedia article about the University of Pennsylvania
Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington DC
Findagrave record for Archpriest Dmitry Grigorieff
Findagrave record for Galina Grigorieff
Article : Remembering Father Dmitry Grigorieff
History of Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary
Video : Father Dmitry Grigorieff as we know him
There were 3 films produced in Russian in Moscow : "Father Dmitry Grigorieff. The Last Liturgy” ; “Father Dmitry Grigorieff. Orthodox America” ; “Fatherland in Exile”.