Forgotten Archive of Priest Theodosius Levitsky, Secret Adviser to Alexander I

A collection of documents belonging to priest Theodosius Levitsky (1791–1845) was discovered in the Russian State Historical Archive. These are 63 units of storage, only a part of them is published. The collection has not yet received a scholarly description. It includes Levitsky’s letters to Alexander I and Prince A. N. Golitsyn, biographical materials, notes, sermons, religious writings, reports to the Holy Synod, the Podolsk Consistory and the Ecclesiastical board, extensive correspondence. Under the influence of the Russian Biblical Society propaganda, in 1818 Levitsky began writing an essay calling on Christians to unite before the forthcoming Second Advent of Jesus Christ. By the order of Alexander I, Levitsky in 1823 was summoned to St. Petersburg. During the year, Levitsky was a secret adviser to Alexander I on the upcoming Second Advent. He compiled and handed over to the emperor the extensive work “The voices of seven thunders”. In 1824, the political situation changed, A. N. Golitsyn was dismissed, and Levitsky was imprisoned at the Konevets Monastery. Only in 1827 he was released to his diocese, but the seized documents were not returned to Levitsky. They entered the archives of the Holy Synod, where they are stored. Levitsky’s 1823–1824 sojourns in St. Petersburg are described in his autobiography. The period when his special religious views were formed and his writings were written remains practically not studied. The documents from his archive helped to describe Levitsky’s life and activities in 1818–1822.