Vladimir Abrikosov

Vladimir Abrikosov (22 October 1880 – 22 July 1966) was a Catholic priest of the Byzantine rite who converted from Russian Orthodoxy and was associated with the Russian apostolate in the diaspora. He was baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church but later developed a critical attitude toward religion. Abrikosov studied at the 5th Moscow Gymnasium, Moscow University, and Oxford. In 1905, he married his cousin Anna Abrikosova, and the couple traveled through Europe for five years, becoming deeply interested in Catholicism. In 1908, Anna converted to Catholicism, followed by Vladimir a year later. The couple returned to Russia in 1910, organizing meetings for intellectuals in their Moscow apartment, where they discussed religious subjects and supported poor Catholic children. Their apartment became a key center for disseminating Catholic ideas. In 1913, they joined the Third Order of the Dominicans and had an audience with Pope Pius X during a visit to Rome. Abrikosov was ordained a Catholic priest of the Byzantine rite on 29 May 1917 by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, becoming rector of the Moscow Greek Catholic parish and head of the Moscow Dominicans. In 1920–1922, his house served as a dialogue venue between Catholic and Orthodox representatives, attracting intellectuals. This activity was deemed counterrevolutionary, leading to his arrest in August 1922. His death sentence was commuted to exile, and he was expelled from Russia later that year on a philosophers' ship with other prominent Russian intellectuals. In exile, Abrikosov built connections within the Russian emigre community, organized committees in Rome, ...