Innocent of Alaska

Lore & Background

Innocent was born Ivan Evseyevich Popov on August 26, 1797, in the village of Anginskoye, Irkutsk Governorate. His father died when he was six, and he lived with his uncle. He entered the Irkutsk Theological Seminary in 1807, where he was renamed Veniaminov.

He married a local priest's daughter named Catherine in 1817, was ordained a deacon that year, and a priest in 1821. In 1823 he volunteered to go to Unalaska, Alaska, departing on May 7 with his wife, infant son Innocent, his brother Stefan, and his aging mother. After a yearlong journey, they arrived on July 29, 1824.

He studied local languages, mastered six dialects, devised an alphabet for the Unangan dialect of Aleut, and translated parts of the Bible into that dialect in 1828. He was transferred to Sitka in 1834, where he studied the Tlingit language and wrote scholarly works. In 1838 he traveled to St. Petersburg; while there, his wife died. He was tonsured a monk on November 29, 1840, with the name Innocent, and consecrated Bishop of Kamchatka, Kuril Islands, and Aleutian Islands on December 15, 1840.

He was elevated to archbishop in 1850, and in 1867 became Metropolitan of Moscow. He died on March 31, 1879, and was buried at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. He was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church with the title 'Enlightener of the Aleuts, Apostle to America.'

Reader's Guide

Innocent's feast days are March 31 (Julian), October 6 (anniversary of canonization), and October 18 (Synaxis of the Moscow Hierarchs). He is also honored on March 30 in the Episcopal Church (USA). His works include dictionaries, grammars, and religious translations into Aleut and other languages. His books were published beginning in 1840.

Did You Know?

• Innocent devised an alphabet using Cyrillic letters for the Unangan dialect of Aleut.
• His original name was Ivan Evseyevich Popov, later changed to Veniaminov.