Klym Smoliatych

Klym Smoliatych (Klymentii) [Klym Smoljatyč]. A Kyiv metropolitan (1147–54) and church figure from the Smolensk region (from which his surname is derived), Belarus. A monk of the Zarub Monastery, Klym was elected metropolitan by a synod of the hierarchy of the Rus’ church under pressure from Prince Iziaslav Mstyslavych. However, his election was never confirmed by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Klym was also opposed by Prince Yurii Dolgorukii, Iziaslav's rival, and the bishop of Novgorod the Great, Niphont. After Iziaslav's death he was forced to abdicate as metropolitan and became bishop of Volodymyr-Volynskyi. Klym was an erudite sermonizer and philosopher. His best-known work is ‘Poslaniie do presvitera Khomy’ (Letter to Presbyter Khoma), which has survived in two manuscript forms. It contains a symbolic explanation of the Holy Scriptures, and demonstrates his knowledge of Homer, Plato, and Aristotle. Other works are also attributed to him. The most extensive biography and bibliography of Klym is N. Nikolsky's O literaturnykh trudakh mitropolita Klimenta Smoliaticha, pisatelia XII veka (The Literary Works of Metropolitan Klyment Smoliatych, a Writer of the 12th Century, 1892). His election as metropolitan is described in a monograph by Teofil Kostruba.

Arkadii Zhukovsky

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1989).]