LOSSKY, VLADIMIR N

LOSSKY, VLADIMIR N., Russian Orthodox lay theologian, philosopher, ecumenist, educator (26 May 1903–7 February 1958). From 1919 he studied at Petrograd University where he was influenced by L. Karsavine’s concern for patristics and the filioque (qq.v.) debate. In 1922 he was expelled from Russia to reside in Prague and participate in N. Kondakov’s seminars, which deepened his interest in patristics. In 1924 he settled in Paris, where he remained for the rest of his life. He was a friend and disciple of Etienne Gilson, and also enjoyed the friendship of a number of important Roman Catholic theologians, including J. Danielou, H. de Lubac, Y. Congar, and L. Bouyer. After World War II he taught dogmatic theology at St. Denys Institute of Orthodox Theology, Paris, and played a crucial role in the ecumenical encounters in the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius (q.v.). He studied medieval philosophy at the Sorbonne and, at the time of his death, was in the process of completing a book on apophatic theology and the knowledge of God in Meister Eckhart (completed by O. Clement and published in French, 1960). He is the author of the influential book The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (1957), which is of the type of “neopatristic synthesis” described by Georges Florovsky (q.v.).