The seminary community remembers with great fondness its former Dean and Professor of Church History and Patristics, Protopresbyter John Meyendorff (1926–1992), on the 20th anniversary of his death, July 22, 1992. You may view a touching still-shot video in remembrance of Fr. John (created by Andrew Matthews) here.
Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, in 1926, Fr. Meyendorff completed his secondary education in France and his theological education at the Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris in 1949. In 1948 he also received a license-es-lettres at the Sorbonne, and later earned a Diplôme d'études supérieures (1949), a Diplôme de l'école practique des Hautes Etudes (1954), and a Doctorate of Letters (1958). In France he was an Assistant Professor of Church History at the Orthodox Theological Institute, and a Fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Having been ordained to the priesthood in the Orthodox Church, he became Professor of Church History and Patristics at St. Vladimir's Seminary (1959), holding also successive joint appointments as lecturer in Byzantine theology at Harvard University, Dumbarton Oaks (to which he returned for a semester as Acting Director of Studies in 1977), and as Professor of Byzantine History at Fordham University (from 1967). He also was Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary and lectured widely on university campuses and at church events. He held the position of Dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary from March 1984 until June 1992.
Fr. John's publications include the critical text and translation of Byzantine theologian Gregory Palamas (1959), as well as a number of books in the fields of theology and history, such as A Study of Gregory Palamas (French ed., 1959; Engl. 1964); The Orthodox Church (1963); Orthodoxy and Catholicity (1966); Christ in Eastern Christian Thought (1969); Byzantine Theology (1973); Marriage, an Orthodox Perspective (1975); Living Tradition (1978); Byzantium and the Rise of Russia (1980); The Byzantine Legacy in the Orthodox Church (1981); Catholicity and the Church (1983); and Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions. The Church 450-680 AD (1989). His books have been published in a number of languages, including French, German, Italian, Russian, Greek, Finnish, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Serbian, and Polish. English editions are carried by our SVS Press & Bookstore.
