The Stories Behind the Names of the Orthodox Christians in the CHCD
On September 11, 2023, at 10:30 EST (Boston), Dr. Aleksandrs Dmitrenko will present a talk on “The Stories Behind the Names of the Orthodox Christians in the China Historical Christian Database.” Join us on Zoom.
In the presentation on Orthodox missionaries and lay people in China, Dr. Aleksandrs Dmitrenko will uncover some of the names and stories of people who will appear shortly in the China Historical Christian Database (CHCD). For instance, learn about:
- A woman from Edinburgh who was raised in an Anglican family studied in Russia, and went to China as a
refugee, became an Orthodox nun, and died in the GULAG around 1955. - Orthodox priests who converted to the Eastern Catholic Church and Roman Catholic priests who joined the
Orthodox Church. - Members of the Russian Fascist Party, White Russians, and supporters of the Communists.
- St. John of Shanghai.
- The brother of the Russian painter and theosophist, Nicholas Roerich.
- A victim of the Japanese Unit 731, which ran lethal human experiments on their captives.
- The man who taught English to Emperor Nicholas II.
- And more…
All these very different people came together in one region of China, Manchuria, and many of them lived in the city of
Harbin. Discover the multifaceted world of the Orthodox Church at this crossroads in China, as well as ways the study
of the Russian Orthodox Church in China might be enhanced by the CHCD.
Aleksandrs Dmitrenko has a Ph.D. from the City University of Hong Kong (2017), an MA in Chinese Studies from the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (2013), and a BA in Asian Studies from the University of Latvia (2010). He primarily focuses on the research of Christianity in China and, foremost, the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in China. His research interests also include Chinese Bible translations, Sino-Russian relations, Chinese history textbooks, and modern Chinese history. He has worked as a postdoc researcher at Heidelberg University, being a member of the research team of the German-Russian project on Chinese Perceptions of Russia and the West during the twentieth century. He is also a former Visiting Researcher at Boston University’s Center for Global Christianity & Mission and was involved in the development of the China Historical Christian Database in the area of the Orthodox Church in China.