Our parish had a fascinating visit this week from three scholars who are studying the work of iconographer Pimen Sofronov (1898-1973). Sofronov was from the Old Believer community in Estonia, whose path took him across Europe, including the Vatican, and eventually to the US, where his icons and frescos are found in many Orthodox churches across jurisdictions, including several icons in our parish. He lived and is buried at the Old Believer community in Millville, New Jersey. Prof. Jeffrey Holdeman of Indiana University, who organized the visit, facilitated the donation of Sofronov’s archive to the Hilandar Research Library at Ohio State University. An exhibition of Sofronov’s work was held there in 2018. Prof. Holdeman’s colleagues are icon researcher Mari-Liis Paver, originally from Estonia, and Prof. Grigorijus Potašenko of Vilnius University, a historian of the Old Belief in the Baltics and Central Europe. Mari-Liis’ book about Pimen Sofronov was reviewed by the scholar Irina Paert. It was our privilege to have the three scholars join us in Sea Cliff before they headed to Three Saints Church, a parish of the Orthodox Church in America in Ansonia, Connecticut known both for its iconography by Sofronov and unique architecture.
Our rector, Fr. Paul Hunchak, Natalia Lusin, secretary of the parish council, Sophia Kishkovsky, president of the board of trustees, and parish council member Nicholas Sluchevsky, executive director of the Orthodox Christian Cultural Institute greeted the visitors. Sergei Chapnin and parish council member Marianna Booufall joined us on the following day. Sophia, Nicholas, and Marianna along with two other parishioners, Alex and Helen Terentiev, visited the birthplace of Pimen Sofronov near Lake Peipsi in Estonia in 2018. Their visit was covered in the local newspaper for which Sophia also wrote an article about Sofronov’s work in Orthodox churches in the US. We learned a great deal from the visitors to Our Lady of Kazan and look forward to working with them in further gathering information about Pimen Sofronov’s work in the US.
