Joasaph Bolotov

Bishop Joasaph (secular name Ivan Ilyich Bolotov, Russian: Иоанн Ильич Болотов; 1761 – May 1799) was a Russian Orthodox missionary, bishop of Kodiak, vicar of Irkutsk diocese.

He came to Alaska as the leader of a group of missionaries from the Valaam Monastery in 1794. Under very primitive conditions he and his monastic companions established the foundations of an Orthodox presence in North America. Called to Irkutsk, he was consecrated the auxiliary Bishop of Kodiak, but did not survive a shipwreck on his return to Alaska.

Ivan Ilyich Bolotov (Russian Иоанн Ильич Болотов) was born on January 22, 1761, in the village of Strazhkov in the Kashin district of the province of Tver. His father was the local priest in the village. His early education was at the ecclesiastical school at the monastery in Kashin. His education continued at the seminaries in Tver and Yaroslavl, graduating with honors. After graduating he taught at the Uglich ecclesiastical school for the next four years. Deciding to enter a monastic life he joined the Tolga Monastery where he received his tonsure in 1786 and was given the name of Joasaph.

Subsequently, he moved to a monastery in Uglich and then on to the Valaam. The dates of his ordination as a deacon and as a priest are not known. He was raised to the rank of archimandrite in 1783. When the call for assembling a missionary team to travel to remote Alaska was made, Fr. Joasaph was selected to lead the team based upon his accomplishments as a monastic. The team of ten consisted of Fr. Joasaph as leader, four hieromonks, a hierodeacon, two monks, and two servitors. (Chevigny 65)

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