In Memoriam Nicolas M. Ossorguine (1924-2014)

This article is a commemorative text dedicated to Nicolas M. Ossorguine (1924-2014), cantor, choirmaster and professor at the Saint Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris. Written in the form of a funeral eulogy signed by Antoine Nivière, it traces the life and work of a central figure in the Russian liturgical tradition in the diaspora. The article shows how Ossorguine, born on the very day his family moved onto the property on the rue de Crimée, devoted more than sixty years to the service of liturgical chant and to teaching rubrics at the Saint Sergius Institute. His theological contribution lies in an approach to the liturgical cycle attentive to its doctrinal meaning, illustrated by his contributions to the Saint Sergius Liturgical Weeks and by his expertise on the question of the ecclesiastical calendar. The article thus documents the transmission of a Russian Orthodox liturgical tradition within the Parisian emigration of the twentieth century.