Sampson Sievers

Sampson Sievers was a hieroschemamonk and spiritual father of Russia, who reposed in Moscow on 24 August 1979. In his monastic life he was first called Simeon. He is honoured by his disciples and followers, but he is the centre of great disagreement, and his canonization has not been approved.

His name in the world was Eduard Esperovich Sievers. He was born in Saint Petersburg, in 1898 according to the article we rely on; other sources give 1892 or 1900. His family had no connection with the family of the counts Sievers, although he sometimes called himself a count. He was a soldier in the civil war, was wounded in 1919 and afterwards worked in archives. From 1922 he entered monastic life at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, received the name Simeon and in 1923 was ordained hierodeacon.

In 1932 he was arrested and given three years in a camp. He was ordained hieromonk in 1935, was arrested again in 1936 and sentenced to eight years. After 1946 he served in villages of the Stavropol region and the diocese of Penza, and between 1958 and 1963 he lived at the Pskov Caves Monastery. From 1963 he lived in Moscow. On 16 September 1966 he was tonsured into the great schema with the name Sampson. He reposed after a severe illness and was buried at the Nikolo-⁠Arkhangelsk cemetery in Moscow.

His biography has no version accepted by all. His followers regard him as a holy elder; his critics say that his teachings contain non-⁠Orthodox ideas. In 1998 an initiative group asked for his canonization, but the canonization commission, after studying the archives, found contradictions in his life, and this stopped the canonization. His venerators keep the memorial days of 10 July, 24 August and 16 February.