Zalensky, Lev

Zalensky, Lev [Заленський, Лев; Zalens'kyj], b 1648 in Liubechi, near Lutsk, Volhynia, d 1708 in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, Volhynia. Uniate metropolitan of Kyiv. A nobleman, he joined the Basilian monastic order as a novice in the Byten Monastery. He then studied in Olomouc, in Moravia, in Vilnius, and at the Gregorian University in Rome (1673–6). In 1678 he became bishop of Volodymyr (see Volodymyr-Volynskyi eparchy) after the death of his uncle, V. Korchak-Hlynsky. In 1694 he succeeded Kypriian Zhokhovsky as metropolitan of Kyiv while retaining his position as bishop of Volodymyr. During his tenure the bishops of Lviv (Yosyf Shumliansky; see Lviv eparchy) and Lutsk (Denys Dionysii Zhabokrytsky; see Lutske eparchy) joined the Uniate church. Zalensky fled to Saxony during the Russian-Swedish War, when Muscovite armies occupied Volhynia.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]