MEYENDORFF, JOHN

MEYENDORFF, JOHN, priest, theologian, educator, ecumenist (1926–22 July 1992). After attending French secondary schools in 1948 he obtained his licence-es-lettres at the Sorbonne, followed by a diplome d’etudes superieures in 1949, a diplome de l’ecole pratique des hautes etudes in 1954, and a doctorat-es-lettres in 1958. He completed his theological training at St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute (q.v.) in 1949.

In 1959 he relocated to the United States to teach at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (q.v.), New York, after ordination to the priesthood. He was dean of the Seminary from 1984 until his retirement in June 1992. From 1967 to 1975 he was a moderator of the World Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission. From 1967 to 1992 he was professor of Byzantine studies at Fordham University, and from 1977 to 1978 he was acting director of studies at Harvard’s Dumbarton Oaks-where he also held the position of lecturer in Byzantine theology for many years. He was editor of “The Orthodox Church” newspaper and St. Vladimir’s Seminary Quarterly for two decades before his deanship at St. Vladimir’s, and his scholarly publications include A Study of Gregory Palamas (1959), Christ in Eastern Christian Thought (1969), and Byzantine Theology (1973), among many other excellent works. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Notre Dame and General Theological Seminary, New York.

It is difficult to choose Meyendorff’s most remarkable accomplishment, due to the extraordinary character of his life. His doctoral dissertation on Gregory Palamas (q.v.) at the Sorbonne had to be defended against the entire faculty in theology, and the debate continued for decades in the journal Istina. It was not unusual for Meyendorff to hold two full-time teaching positions at the same time, while in addition editing publications, advising the Synod of Bishops, and fulfilling priestly duties. He wrote technical articles, did his own editing, and spoke publicly in three languages with little or no accent (Russian, French, and English), and did simultaneous translation among those languages. Although his reputation came from Byzantine studies, for example serving on the advisory board for the multivolume Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, his command of Russian church history qualified him as a Russo-Byzantine scholar, using both terms inclusively. With Georges Florovsky (q.v.) he will probably be commemorated as one of the greatest Orthodox theologians and ecumenists of the 20th c., and his students-and spiritual children-remember him with warmth and respect.