Alexander Kukulevsky
Protopresbyter Alexander Yurievich Kukulevsky (28 October 1873-11 January 1963) (Russian: Александр Юрьевич Кукулевский) was a priest in the Russian Orthodox Mission to the United States. He served in many parishes throughout the United States, first as a reader and then as a priest. He also taught at the Minneapolis Orthodox Seminary, took part in the all-Russian Sobor of 1917-1918, narrowly escaping with his life, edited the Orthodox newspaper Voice of the Church and served on the faculty of St. Vladimirs Seminary
Life
Alexander Yurievich Kukulevsky was born on 28 October 1873 in Kiev. He was a classmate of the future Metropolitan Theophilus. He first came to the United States in 1898 and his first assignment was as a lay reader and choir director assigned to Ss. Constantine & Helen Church in Galveston, Texas, and then to Allegheny, Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1903, he made a trip to Holy Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco, where he would spend the next few months working alongside Fr. Theodore Pashkovsky (later named Metropolitan Theophilus) and Sebastian (Dabovich), among others. In 1905, he was appointed a teacher at the Minneapolis Orthodox Seminary. He returned briefly to Russia to wed Valentina Dimitrievna Momansk, and then returned with her to the United States where he was ordained into the priesthood on September 17, 1907. Their marriage would produce three children: Boris, George, & Nicholas.
As a priest, Fr. Alexander returned to Minneapolis, and continued to teach at the seminary as well as serve as priest at St. Mary Church. After this, between 1909 and 1911, he served the parishes at Osceola Mills, Philipsburg, and Pittsburgh, all in Pennsylvania. In 1912, he was assigned to Holy Trinity Church in Chicago, Illinois, to serve as priest after the disastrous tenure of Fr. Vladimir Alexandrof. It was also during Fr. Alexander's time in Chicago that he served as secretary to the Russian Mission in America.
While Fr. Alexander was priest at Holy Trinity in Chicago, he was chosen to be part of the American delegation at the all-Russian sobor of 1917-1918. He was only able to enter Russia by gaining passage on a Russian ammunition ship. After the sobor, he barely escaped Russia - now the Soviet Union - with his life, and was forced to leave by way of Japan.
After serving in Chicago, Fr. Alexander served in New York City and at St. Theodosius Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio. He edited the monthly newspaper Voice of the Church, and later would serve on the faculty of St. Vladimir's Seminary.
Later in life, he transferred to the Holy Virgin Mary Cathedral of Los Angeles, California, where he served from 1947-1957. He fell asleep in the Lord in California in January, 1963.
Parishes
before priestly ordination
- Ss. Constantine & Helen Church; Galveston, Texas,
- Allegheny, Pennsylvania
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
as priest
- St. Mary Minneapolis, Minnesota (1907-1909)
- Osceola Mills, Pennsylvania
- Philipsburg, Pennsylvania,
- St. Michael; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1910-1913)
- Holy Trinity Church; Chicago, Illinois (1913-1919)
- St. Theodosius Cathedral; Cleveland, Ohio (1921)
- Ss. Peter and Paul Church; South River, New Jersey (1925-
- Holy Virgin Mary Cathedral; Los Angeles, California; (1947-1957)
Sources
- http://dowoca.org/files/vision/winter1998.pdf Events of Days Long Gone An account of going to San Francisco in 1903.
- http://distantcousin.com/directories/mn/minneapolis/1909/Pages.asp?Page=0916 1909 Minneapolis phone directory page
- http://dowoca.org/files/vision/spring2001.pdf To Moscow - To Moscow Notes on the journey to the all-Russian sobor of 1917-1918
- http://www.holy-trinity.org/history/1919/10.13.Sakovich-Kukulevsky.html
- http://zarubezhje.narod.ru/kl/k_106.htm (In Russian)
- http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/contracostatimes/obituary.aspx?pid=135782886 Nicholas Cooke (formerly Kukulevsky) obituary