Fr. Cyprian (Kern, 1899–1960), His Diaries and Memoirs

Abstract The article is devoted to Fr. Cyprian (Kern, 1899–1960), evaluating his Diaries and Memoirs, edited in 2021 by the author. One of the eminent theologians of the Russian Emigration, professor of Saint Sergius Theological Institute in Paris, Fr. Cyprian was born and brought up in Russia, took part in the Russian Civil war, and lived as a young Russian emigrant in Yugoslavia in 1920–1930. In 1928–1930 he was the Head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. His Memoirs and Jerusalem Diaries are a very important and in fact unique source not only for the biography of Fr. Cyprian himself, but for the religious and cultural life of the Russian Emigration in the Balkans and in the Holy Land during the first half of the 20th century. They also shed light on characteristic patterns concerning the interaction between different communities in those regions.