Saint Elias Fondaminsky

This article focuses on the figure of Ilya Fondaminsky (1880-1942), a Russian émigré intellectual who died in deportation at Auschwitz and was canonized by the Orthodox Church in 2004. It takes the form of a personal testimony written by the Russian writer Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya, translated and published here for the first time in French. The main aim is to convey, through a direct and contemporary perspective, the spiritual and human personality of Fondaminsky: his kindness, his simplicity and his inner radiance, manifested in particular in his refusal to escape from the Compiègne-Royallieu internment camp and in his continued devotion to his fellow captives. From a theological and hagiographical standpoint, this testimony constitutes a first-hand source for understanding the foundations of the sainthood recognized in Fondaminsky, shedding light on the evangelical dimension of his spiritual journey at the heart of the tragedy of the Second World War.