First Russian biography of Blessed Josemaria

Blessed Josemaria Escriva's Life and Achievement is the title of the first biography to appear in the Russian language by the noted Orthodox thinker, Eugueny Pazukhin. Posted 10/30/00.

Moscow, 10/30/00 – “Blessed Josemaria Escriva's Life and Achievement” is the title of the first biography to appear in the Russian language by the noted Orthodox thinker, Eugueny Pazukhin. It reached bookshops in Moscow and other major Russian cities throughout October. Pazukhin is a writer, philosopher and journalist, who under the Communists clandestinely promoted Russian Christian culture with debates, conferences, magazines and books.

One fine day Pazukhin came across several books authored by Blessed Josemaria. He found his message and character so intriguing that he wanted to share his acquaintance with his fellow Russians. As he mentions in the book's introduction, Pazukhin seeks to engage in a lively debate his peers. They, like him, lived under a regime inimical to freedom, only to find themselves in a post-Soviet era full of worries and uncertainties no less than hopes and desires.

Pazukhin gives credit to two biographical sources: one written by C. M. Cejas as well as the published interview of Bishop Alvaro del Portillo by Cesare Cavallieri.

Author's Background

Eugueny Pazukhin was born in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) in 1945, where he later studied Russian language and literature. After marriage, he began working in the '70s as a curator of the “Museum of Religious History.” He was also posted to Leningrad's tourism office, making its authors better known.

Meanwhile and under cover, he oversaw seminars and religious discussion groups, while authoring papers on Russian religious philosophy and clandestine poetry in Leningrad. He gathered small groups for whom he organized courses on church history, biblical exegesis, patrology, religious themes in literature, Christianity and culture and the like. Active in various periodicals, he served as managing editor of two magazines, “Christianity and Society” and “Transfiguration.” To support his family during the last years of the Communist era, he found himself driving a truck.

In the past decade he has been instrumental in attracting other thinkers to a religious-philosophical body inspired in the thought of V. Soloviev. He is often heard on two radio networks: Radio Free Europe and Deutsche Welle. The author of several books, Pazukhin has seen more than 50 of his articles published.