Saint John of Tobolsk

John of Tobolsk (Russian: Иоанн Тобольский; 1651–1715), born Ioann Maksimovich Vasilkovskiy (Russian: Иоанн Максимович Васильковский; Ukrainian: Іван Максимович Васильківський, romanized: Ivan Maksymovych Vasylkivskyi) was a teacher, writer and clergyman of Ukrainian Cossack origin, who served as the Russian Orthodox archbishop of Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversk, and later as the metropolitan of Tobolsk and all Siberia. Born to a noble Cossack family in Nieżyn, then de-jure part of the Czernihow Voivodeship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but de-facto administrated by the eponymous regiment of the Cossack Hetmanate, he was the only one of the seven sons of Maksym Wasylkowski Maksymowicz to enter the service of the Eastern Orthodox Church. After graduating from Kiev Academy in 1673, Maksimovich initially stayed at the establishment, as a teacher of poetics, rhetorics and Latin language. In 1676 he was tonsured as a monk of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, in which he was appointed manager by 1678. Soon thereafter Maksimovich was transferred to Chernigov, where he taught Latin at the local school. As Bishop Theodore of Uglich wanted someone to succeed him of presiding over Chernigov, he appointed John as Archimandrite of the Eletsky Monastery in 1695. Bishop Theodore of Uglich reposed in 1696 and John became Archbishop of Chernigov. During his pastorate in Chernigov, John distinguished himself by operating a spiritual academy, writing prose and poetry inspired by faith, and inspiring faith in others. His most famous work is "Iliotropion" (Russian: Илиотропион, meaning "Sunflower"), which he translated and adapted into Slavonic and Russian from the original Latin of the German Jesuit priest Jeremias Drexel. In the early 21st century, it remains the standard work on theodicy among the Eastern Orthodox. Several of Maksimovich's works and translations were influenced by the contemporary European trends of Enlightenment and Protestantism.