Sharaievsky, Nestor

Sharaievsky, Nestor [Шараєвський, Нестор; Šarajevs'kyj], b 1865 in the Chyhyryn region, d 29 October 1929 in Kyiv. Archbishop of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox church (UAOC). A graduate of the Kyiv Theological Academy (1890), he was ordained in 1891 and then taught law in gymnasiums in Vinnytsia. During the period of Ukraine’s struggle for independence (1917–20) he was delegate from the Ukrainian clergy to the Central Rada. With Vasyl Lypkivsky he campaigned for the Ukrainianization of the Orthodox church in Ukraine and the creation of the UAOC. In 1921 he was consecrated archbishop of Kyiv (see Kyiv eparchy) and elected vice-metropolitan. He also served on the presidium of the All-Ukrainian Orthodox Church Council and headed the UAOC commission for translating liturgical books into Ukrainian. He is the only bishop of the UAOC who died a natural death. He is buried in Kyiv.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]