LEVSHIN, PLATON

LEVSHIN, PLATON, Metropolitan of Moscow (1737–1812). A remarkable Russian churchman of the 18th c. and early 19th c., he was brought to St. Petersburg in 1763 as preacher to the court of Tsarina Catherine II (the Great). He advanced initially on his preaching abilities, and more than 500 of his sermons are preserved. Tutor to the Grand Duke Paul, he was recognized as the greatest educator of the church schools of the 18th c., and worked to improve not only the Latin curriculum of the clergy but their cultural, social, and material status. Influenced by the spirit of the Enlightenment, he wrote the first systematized theology (q.v.) and outline of church history in Russian, and put theology into contact with everyday life, mostly through catechesis (q.v.). During thirty-seven years as metropolitan, his exemplary administrative abilities largely brought his vision to fruition.