Alexander Ishchein
{{Short description|Azerbaijani prelate (1952–2021)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Archbishop
| term = January 14, 1999 – June 10, 2021
| consecrated_by = Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow
| ordained_by = Anthony (Zavgorodniy) of Stavropol and Baku
| consecration = January 14, 1999
| ordination = 1975
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1952|06|13}}
| birth_place = Yaroslavl, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|06|10|1952|06|13}}
| death_place = Baku, Azerbaijan
| image = Александр_(Ищеин).jpg
| education = Moscow Theological Seminary
| predecessor = Valentin (Mischuk)
| church = Russian Orthodox Church
| archdiocese = Baku and Azerbaijan
| native_name_lang = ru
| native_name = Александр Геннадьевич Ищеин
| title = Archbishop of Baku and Azerbaijan
| name = Alexander (Ishchein)
| honorific_prefix = His Eminence
| buried = Alley of Honor
}}
Archbishop Alexander ({{Langx|ru|Александр Геннадьевич Ищеин}}; 13 June 1952 – 10 June 2021) was an Azerbaijani prelate, who served as the archbishop of Russian Orthodox diocese of Baku and Azerbaijan from 1999 until his death in 2021.
Biography
Born on June 13, 1952, in Yaroslavl, his mother was a teacher, father was a worker. He spent his childhood in Rostov and Yaroslavl. From adolescence, he took an interest in Russian Orthodox Church and studied church literature collected by his grandfather.{{Cite web|title=АЛЕКСАНДР|url=https://www.pravenc.ru/text/64256.html|url-status=live|access-date=June 11, 2021|website=Orthodox Encyclopedia|language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100625073346/http://www.pravenc.ru:80/text/64256.html |archive-date=June 25, 2010 }} In 1969 he graduated from high school and entered the Leningrad Chemical and Pharmaceutical Institute.{{Cite web|title=Александр, архиепископ (Ищеин Александр Геннадьевич) / Персоналии / Патриархия.ru|url=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/54121.html|url-status=live|access-date=June 11, 2021|website=Official website of Moscow Patriarchate|language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222115302/http://www.patriarchia.ru:80/db/text/54121.html |archive-date=December 22, 2007 }}
In 1973–1974 he did military service in the ranks of the Soviet Armed Forces. In 1975, he took monastic vows with the name Alexander and was ordained a hierodeacon by Bishop Anthony (Zavgorodniy) of Stavropol and Baku. On December 19 of the same year he was ordained a hieromonk and sent to serve in the {{ill|Stavropol diocese|ru|Ставропольская епархия}}. He later graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary in absentia.
For four years he was rector of the Dormition Church in the city of Mozdok, where the Mozdok Icon of the Mother of God - especially revered in the Caucasus - is located. He served as dean of churches in North Ossetia and contributed to the return of the Church and the restoration of the Ascension Cathedral in the city of Alagir, the church in Vladikavkaz, St. Nicholas Cathedral and the Church of the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands in the village of Pavlodolskaya. Furthermore, he collected and studied materials on the history of Christianity in the Caucasus.
In 1988, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. He served in Dagestan and Azerbaijan. In 1995, he was appointed rector of the {{ill|Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God (Baku)|ru|Собор Рождества Пресвятой Богородицы (Баку)|lt=Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God}} in Baku and dean of the Orthodox churches of Azerbaijan.
As Archbishop
On December 28, 1998, by the decision of the Holy Synod, he was elected Bishop of Baku and the Caspian Sea. He was named Bishop of Baku and the Caspian Sea on January 13, 1999, at the Yelokhovo Cathedral in Moscow. He was consecrated Bishop of Baku and the Caspian Sea the day after. The consecration was performed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II, Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomna Juvenal (Poyarkov), Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and Yuryevsky Pitirim (Nechaev), Archbishop of Solnechnogorsk Sergius (Fomin), Archbishop of Orenburg) Valentine Bronnitsky Tikhon (Emelyanov), Bishop of Orekhovo-Zuevsky Alexy (Frolov), Bishop of Krasnogorsk Sabbas (Volkov).
During his tenure destroyed churches were restored and new ones were built in Baku, Makhachkala, Kizlyar, Kaspiysk, Izberbash, Buinaksk and Derbent. He was a member of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church since July 27, 2009. On March 22, 2011, by the decision of the Holy Synod, due to the fact that Dagestan was transferred to the revived Vladikavkaz diocese, the title was changed to "Baku and Azerbaijan".{{Cite web|title=Journals of the meeting of the Holy Synod of March 22, 2011|url=http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/1434630.html|url-status=live|access-date=June 11, 2021|website=Official website of Moscow Patriarchate|language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519095835/http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/1434630.html |archive-date=May 19, 2011 }} He was elevated to the rank of archbishop on July 18, 2012, by Patriarch Kirill.
Death
He died from COVID-19 in Baku, Azerbaijan, on June 10, 2021, three days before his 69th birthday.[https://www.interfax.ru/world/771661 Глава азербайджанской епархии РПЦ умер от последствий COVID-19] He was buried on June 13, 2021. in Alley of Honor.{{Cite web|title=Состоялись похороны отца Александра - ОБНОВЛЕНО|url=https://report.az/ru/religiya/nachalas-ceremoniya-proshaniya-s-otcom-aleksandrom/|access-date=2021-06-13|website=Информационное Агентство Репорт|date=June 13, 2021 |language=ru}}
Awards
= Ecclesiastical =
- Order of the Cross of St. Euphrosyne of the Polotsk Belarusian Orthodox Church (June 24, 2012){{Cite web|title=Епископ Бакинский и Азербайджанский Александр удостоен высшей награды Белорусской Православной Церкви / Новости / Епархии / Патриархия.ru|url=http://eparchia.patriarchia.ru/db/text/2305114.html|access-date=June 11, 2021|website=Патриархия.ru|language=ru}}
- Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, 2nd degree.
- Order of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, 3rd degree
- Order of St. Mark of Ephesus, 1st class{{Cite web|title=Award of the Department for External Church Relations is presented to Archbishop Alexander of Baku and Azerbaijan|url=https://mospat.ru/en/news/48362/|access-date=June 11, 2021|website=The Russian Orthodox Church. Department for External Church Relations.|language=en}}
= Secular =
- Shohrat Order (June 12, 2002, Azerbaijan)
- Dostlug Order (June 11, 2012, Azerbaijan)
- Order of Friendship (April 10, 2017, Russia)
- Honorary Diploma of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (November 16, 2015)