Anthony of Sourozh

Andrei Bloom was born on 19 June 1914, in Lausanne, Switzerland, to Russian parents Xenia and Boris Edvardovich Bloom. His mother was the half sister of the composer Alexander Scriabin. He spent his early childhood in Russia and Iran. During the Russian Revolution the family had to leave Iran, and by 1923 they were settled in Paris, where he was educated. ==Career==

In 1939, before leaving for the front as a surgeon in the French Army, he secretly professed monastic vows in the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1943 he was tonsured and received the name of Antony. During the occupation of France by Nazi Germany he worked as a doctor, and took part in the French Resistance. After the war he continued practising as a physician until 1948, when he was ordained to the presbyterate and sent to Britain to serve as Orthodox Christian chaplain of the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius, a society established to foster understanding and friendship between the Russian Orthodox and Anglican churches. In 1950 he was appointed vicar of the Russian Patriarchal parish in London. In 1957 he was consecrated as bishop, and as archbishop in 1962 in charge of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh (for Great Britain and Ireland). In 1963 he was appointed exarch of the Moscow Patriarchate in Western Europe, and in 1966 was assigned the rank of metropolitan bishop. In 1974 he protested the expulsion of writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn from Russia and renounced his exarch post during a radio broadcast. He died on 4 August 2003 and was buried in the Brompton Cemetery, London. ==Honours==

Bloom received honorary doctorates from the University of Aberdeen ("for preaching the Word of God and renewing the spiritual life of this country"); from the Moscow Theological Academy for his theological, pastoral and preaching work; from the University of Cambridge; and from the Kiev Theological Academy. ==Writings==

His books were published in English in Britain. His texts were subsequently widely published in Russia as books and in periodicals. • Note: dates are for British editions. ;Publications • 1966 – Living Prayer • 1970 – School for Prayer • 1970 – Beginning to Pray (re-publishing of School for Prayer) • 1971 – God and man • 1972 – Meditations on a Theme: a spiritual journey • 1973 – Courage to Pray • 1985 – Death and Bereavement • 1986 – The Essence of Prayer (Contains Living Prayer, School for Prayer, God and Man, and Courage to Pray) ;Posthumously published works • 2005 – Encounter • 2007 – The Living Body of Christ • 2009 – Coming Closer to Christ: on Confession • 2017 – Churchianity vs. Christianity • Living the Christian Creed: Theology as Encounter • Beauty and Meaning: T S Eliot Lectures ==Posthumous works==

, London The Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh Foundation is a body of independent trustees who collect together and publish his writings. As of July 2011, the foundation undertakes this by managing the copyrights in his works and by commissioning new selections and approved translations. The foundation is also establishing the official archive of Bloom's papers and writings, together with related materials such as recordings of talks, broadcasts and sermons. The foundation is the legal owner of the worldwide copyrights and other intellectual property rights in Bloom's works. Its charity registered number is 1120395. ==References==