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[[Image:Herman of Alaska.jpg|right|frame|St. Herman of Alaska]]
Our venerable father '''Herman of Alaska''' (1756 - [[December 13]], 1837) was an 18th century missionary to Alaska. He is also the first [[saint]] to be [[canonizationGlorification|canonizedglorified]] by the [[Orthodox Church in America]].
Herman of Alaska was a Russian Orthodox [[monk]] from [[Valaam Monastery]] in Russia, who traveled with eight other monks in 1793 to bring the [[Gospel]] to the native Aleuts and Eskimos in the Aleutian Islands. As part of the Russian colonization of the Americas, Russians had been exploring and trading there since at least 1740. Thus, he marks the first arrival of Orthodox Christian missionaries in North America. He built a school for the Aleutians, and often defended them from the injustices and exploitation of the Russian traders. He was known to them as ''Apa'' which means "Grandfather." He lived most of his life as the sole resident of Spruce Island, a tiny wooded island near Kodiak Island.
