Chrysanthus of Athens

In 1903 he became a deacon and began his service in the Metropolis of Trebizond (modern day Trabzon) as a teacher at the Secondary School of the city, where he taught religious classes.

He studied theology at the school of Halki then transferred to Lausanne in Switzerland and then to Leipzig in Germany.

In April 1916 – just ahead of the Russian invasion – he was handed control of the city by the local Ottoman administration.

The Russians kept him as governor, even though he helped the local Turkish population return to the city and re-establish their institutions – to their dismay.

He became archbishop of Athens in 1938 and held the post until he resigned in the aftermath of the German invasion of Greece, after refusing to swear-in the collaborationist government of Georgios Tsolakoglou.