8 September] 1736)[2] was a Russian Orthodox bishop,[3] theologian, pietist, writer, poet, mathematician, astronomer, pedagogue and philosopher of Ukrainian origin.

[5] Prokopovich elaborated upon and implemented Peter the Great's reform of the Russian Orthodox Church;[6] he served as the first vice-president of the Most Holy Synod from 1721, which replaced the office of the patriarch.

[11] The Uniate Bishop of Volodymyr, Zalensky, noticed the extraordinary abilities of the young monk and contributed to his transfer to the Catholic Academy of St. Athanasius in Rome, which was created by theologians to spread Catholicism among Eastern Orthodox adherents.

[12] In addition to theology, Prokopovich also studied the works of ancient Latin and Greek philosophers, historians, attractions of old and new Rome, and the principles of the Catholic faith and of the Pope.

He returned to Ukraine (then part of the Tsardom of Russia) in 1704, first to Pochayiv Lavra, then to Kiev, where he renounced the Catholic union as well as his penance and tonsure with the Orthodox monks, taking the name Feofan in memory of his uncle.

The tsar of Russia, Peter I, was struck by the eloquence of this sermon,[3] and upon his return to Kiev, Feofan Prokopovich was appointed as the rector of the Kiev-Mogila Academy[15][16][17] and a professor of theology.

[citation needed] He entirely reformed the teaching of theology there, substituting the historical method of the German theologians for the Orthodox scholastic system.