Metrophanes Kritopoulos was a Greek[3][4] born in Veria, Macedonia in 1589.

Originally a monk on Mount Athos, he was a close associate of Cyril Lucaris.

He studied at the University of Oxford in England (1617–24, funded by James I) and in Germany.

He travelled to Europe and mingled with the greatest scholars and theologians of his day.

After a period as bishop of Memphis in Egypt, he was elected patriarch of Alexandria on 1636, where he put together an important library.