Martyr Yuri Novitsky

Martyr Yuri (Yuri Petrovich Novitsky) was born in 1882 in Uman, in the Kiev province, and raised partly in the family of his uncle, the philosopher Orest Novitsky. A devout churchgoer from childhood, he graduated in law from Kiev University and combined scholarship with work as an investigating magistrate and with charitable causes: a shelter for children of exiled convicts, a juvenile court and prison welfare. He was a firm opponent of the death penalty. From 1914 he taught at Petrograd University, becoming professor of the history of law, and also lectured at the Theological Academy.

He chaired the board of the Society of United Orthodox Parishes of Petrograd, founded with the support of Metropolitan Benjamin (Kazansky), and insisted that it stay out of politics. Arrested in 1922 during the forced confiscation of church valuables, he was one of the main defendants in the Petrograd trial that opened on 10 June; he denied guilt, tried to take on himself charges against others and asked that the rest be spared. Sentenced on 5 July, he was shot on the night of 12–13 August 1922 with Metropolitan Benjamin, Archimandrite Sergius (Shein) and Ioann Kovsharov. He was glorified in 1992 and is commemorated on 31 July (13 August).