Paul Elkin

Holy Martyr Paul Elkin (Pavel Nikolaevich Elkin) was born on 23 June 1876 in the village of Shoshka in the Komi land. The family was large, so the boy was taken to be raised by his grandfather, who lived in Ust-⁠Sysolsk. He finished the parish school, learned the trade of blacksmith and locksmith, lived for a time in Saint Petersburg and, on returning, worked at a factory.

Then his political life began. He received with enthusiasm the news of the revolution and the fall of the tsarist regime and was one of the active participants in establishing Soviet power in the Komi land. From 1918 he was a party member, but at the end of the twenties he withdrew from activity. He lived with his family in the settlement of Kochpon, near the church. In the thirties many exceptional people ended up in Syktyvkar; the church was a refuge for exiled bishops and clergy, and meeting them changed the life of the communist Elkin. His wife also had a part, having been for a time warden of the church. Acquaintance and friendship with Bishop Herman Ryashentsev strengthened his faith; he was in close relations with the bishop.

He was arrested on 24 February 1937, like Bishop Herman, in the case of the Holy Druzhina. In Syktyvkar prison he suffered from a heart defect and dilation of the lungs. The NKVD troika of the Komi Republic sentenced him under article 58.10 to the supreme penalty. The sentence was carried out on 15 September 1937. On 12 March 2002 the Holy Synod decided to number him among the saints.

He is commemorated on 15 September, on 7 February (a movable date) in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church and on 11 February in the Synaxis of the Saints of Komi, in the new style.