Kiev Committee of the Russian Orthodox Missionary Society

Collection

Title (official language):: Киевский комитет Православного миссионерского общества

Creator/accumulator:: Kiev Committee of the Russian Orthodox Missionary Society

Scope and content:: Included are materials on the founding of the Kiev Committee of the Russian Orthodox Missionary Society; on its involvement in organising a shelter for Jews who had been baptized; on the conversion of Jews to Russian Orthodoxy, and biographical data on these persons; on material support provided by the Fraternal Order of St. Vladimir, which engaged in missionary activity among Jews; reports on operations of the Kiev Committee; lists of donors who contributed towards missionary activity in Russia and Japan, and charitable subscription forms thereof.

Administrative/biographical history:: This was established in 1870 and was in operation until 1919. The governing organisation of the Kiev Committee was the Moscow Council of the Orthodox Missionary Society, established in 1865 (and until 1870 called the Moscow Society to Aid the Spread of Christianity among Pagans). Operating under the patronage of the empress, this society sent missions to Siberia, Altai, the Far East, and Japan. The Kiev Committee coordinated the society's activities in the Southwestern territory, where operations consisted mainly of fund-raising and thereby financing Russian Orthodox missionary activity among Catholics, Lutherans, Shtundists, Muslims, and Jews. In particular, the Kiev Committee worked in close collaboration with Kiev's Fraternal Order of St. Vladimir, whose foundational mission was to baptise Jews. Some conversions to Russian Orthodoxy by Jews in the Southwestern territory were performed with the direct involvement of the Missionary Society.

Subject terms:: Aid and relief; Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity; Conversion to Christianity; Orthodoxy (Christian); Personal records

System of arrangement:: The fond includes a single inventory systematised chronologically.