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[[Image:AbbaShenoute.jpg|thumb|Coptic icon of St. Shenouda the Archimandrite]] '''Saint Abba Shenouda (Shenoute)''' was the [[abbot]] of the White Monastery of Atribe in the desert of Thebes, Egypt, for more than 65 years. He ruled over 2200 [[monks]] and 1800 [[nuns]]. He is called [[Archimandrite]] (the head of anchorites) because he used to practice the hermetic (isolated) life from time to time, and he also used to encourage some of his monks to withdraw to the desert after a few years of coenobetic life (living together in monastic community). In 431 A.D. he accompanied Pope St. [[Cyril of Alexandria|Cyril the Great of Alexandria]] to the [[Third Ecumenical Council|Ecumenical Council of Ephesus]].
He created Egyptian nationalism or [[Coptic|Coptism]], getting rid of every Hellenistic (pagan) culture from the Coptic literature. Besides his deep spirituality, he was a political and a social reformer. Quoting [http://www.stshenouda.com/stshenda/shenvita.htm#LeaderLife], "''Any cursory study of the living conditions of the peasants in Upper Egypt at his time, reveals a sub-human living conditions. This was exemplified in their illiteracy and slavery to the Greek landlords and to the land they cultivated. Such slavery was a life sentence that only death could free them from it. Even after Christianity spread among the them, their spirits were always dampened by the pagan landlords, who became more and more ferocious, especially after their slaves rejected their religion and adopted another (i.e. Christianity). The lack of leaders to defend them from such grave injustices, did not help either. This set the stage for the emergence of St. Shenouda as a leader of the oppressed populace.''"
