Metropolitan Nicanor (Klementyevsky): a biographical sketch

In Russian historiography, Metropolitan Nicanor of Novgorod and St. Petersburg (Klementyevsky; 1787-1856), unlike his older contemporary, St. Philaret (Drozdov), received relatively little attention and is more often regarded as a prolific preacher. However, Metropolitan Nicanor was close to Metropolitan Platon (Levshin; †1812), the imperial family, and participated in all of the most significant church-state ceremonies of the 1850s. Biographers have paid limited attention to the origins of Metropolitan Nicanor so far, mentioning only his parents and place of birth (Uspensky Parish in Klementyevo Village of the Lavra). The study of the documents from the Pereslavl and Vladimir spiritual consistories, which include confession records and parish registers, along with a more detailed examination of the documentation from Troitsk Seminary and the bibliography of Metropolitan Philaret and his correspondents, allows for a substantial enrichment of the biography, particularly the genealogy, of the well-known archpastor of St. Petersburg.