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Paul Evdokimov was a Russian and French theologian, writer, and professor of theology at St. Sergius Institute in Paris. He was an invited observer to the Second Vatican Council.

Life

Paul Evdokimov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on August 2, 1901, the son of an army officer who was assassinated by one of his soldiers in 1905. He was educated in a military school and served in the cavalry. He began theological studies just prior to the Bolshevik Revolution. Following the revolution, he and his family escaped from Crimea through Constantinople and settled in Paris in 1923. Evdokimov continued his studies at the Sorbonne and the St. Sergius Institute, studying with Fr. Sergius Bulgakov and Nikolai Berdyaev. In 1942, he completed his doctorate in philosophy at Aix-en-Provence, and his thesis was published as Dostoevsky and the Problem of Evil. He received his doctorate in theology from St Sergius for the publication of Orthodoxy in 1959.

He was among the founding members of the Russian Christian Student Movement. During the War, Evdokimov worked with the French Resistance.

He married Natasha Brunel in 1927, with whom he had two children, Nina (b. 1928) and Michel (b. 1930), who became an Orthodox priest and theologian. Natasha succumbed to cancer in 1945. In 1954, he married Tomoko Sakai, a daughter of a Japanese diplomat.

He reposed in Meudon, France, on September 16, 1970.

Books

  • Ages of the Spiritual Life (SVS Press, 1998) - ISBN 0881411752. Translation of Les Ages de la vie spirituelle.
  • The Art of the Icon: A Theology of Beauty (Oakwood, 1993) – ASIN B000MBMJC. Translation of L'Art de l'icône, théologie de la beauté (1970).
  • La Connaissance de Dieu: selon la tradition orientale (DDB, 1992) - ISBN 2220027147.
  • Gogol et Dostoievski: la descente aux enfers (DDB, 1992) - ISBN 2220024857.
  • Le Mariage, sacrement de l'amour (Éditions du Livre français, 1945)
  • Orthodoxy (New City, 2011) - ISBN 1565483693. Translation of L'Orthodoxie (1959).
  • Orthodoxy: The Cosmos Transfigured (Eighth Day Press, 2012) - ISBN 0971748381.
  • La prière de l'Eglise d'Orient (DDB, 1992) - ISBN 2220025632.
  • The Sacrament of Love: The Nuptial Mystery in the Light of the Orthodox Tradition (SVS Press, 2011) - ISBN 0881413976. Translation of Le Sacrement de l’amour: Le mystère conjugal à la lumière de la Tradition orthodoxe (1944, revised 1962).
  • La Vie spirituelle dans la ville (Cerf, 2008) - ISBN 2204076848.
  • Une vision orthodoxe de la théologie morale (Cerf, 2009) - ISBN 2204089702.
  • Woman and the Salvation of the World (SVS Press, 2011) - ISBN 0881418722. Translation of La Femme et le salut du monde (1958).

Studies

  • Simona Sabou. Trading Silence for Words of Praise: The Status of Woman in Eastern Orthodoxy as Reflected in the Works of Paul Evdokimov (LAP LAMBERT, 2012) - ISBN 3659238309.
  • Olivier Clement. Orient-Occident: Deux passeurs, Vladimir Lossky et Paul Evdokimov (Labor et Fides, 1985) - ISBN 2830900375.

Source

  • Andrew Louth, Modern Orthodox Thinkers, Chapter 11 (IVP Academic, 2015) - ISBN 0281071276.