Riddles of Crimean Kiziltas: on the issue of the “Case of Abbot Parthenius” of 1866—1867

The article analyzes the military court case on the murder (disappearance) of the abbot of the Kiziltash Monastery of St. Stephen of Sourozh, hegumen Parthenius, in which three Crimean Tatars living in the village of Taraktash in Feodosia County were convicted and executed. It is shown that this incident is still the subject of speculation and controversy. Modern Crimean Tatar researchers believe that the suspects were convicted without guilt, and the trial was staged. There is even a version that hegumen Parthenius did not die at all, but secretly absconded to avoid the church trial that threatened him. The article attempts to examine the life of hegumen Parthenius and to understand how objectively the investigation and trial of his disappearance were conducted. It is emphasized that a careful study of the materials of the military court case forces us to admit that there are no serious grounds to assert that the Feodosia military field court acted in a biased manner and made a deliberately incorrect decision, and attempts to present this story as a striking example of persecution of the Crimean Tatar people seem untenable.