Trofim Kochin

Trofim Kochin was a Russian schemamonk of St Panteleimon Monastery, born in 1870 into a family of townspeople at Starobelsk, Kharkov province. He reposed in 1957. He is venerated by the faithful, without a synodal canonization.

Named Tikhon Grigorievich in the world, he was the last child of a large family; the eldest brother, Pavel, fourteen years older, played a decisive part in his fate, telling him about saints and the history of the Church. Tikhon wished to become a monk but military service prevented him. On 12 August 1900 he reached Athos and entered St Panteleimon, where on 12 April 1902 he was tonsured a rassophore with the name Trofim; he worked at the mule stable. In 1904-1905 he served in the army and fought in Manchuria in the Russo-⁠Japanese war, surviving as by a miracle; the horrors of war strengthened his resolve to dedicate his life to God. On 7 March 1908 he was tonsured into the mantle, then worked almost until the First World War on the monastery's large ship, carrying cargo between Athos and Russia. In 1910 his brother Pavel also came, after his wife's death. He also left an archive of works, among them a historical essay by Archbishop Basil (Krivoshein) on the self-⁠government of Athos.