Testimony of the children of Father Boris Bobrinskoy at his funeral on August 11, 2020 in Bussy-en-Othe

This article brings together the testimonies delivered at the funeral of Father Boris Bobrinskoy, theologian and Orthodox priest of the Saint-Sergius Institute, celebrated on August 11, 2020 in Bussy-en-Othe. His three children, Nicolas, Alexis and Olga, speak in turn to evoke the paternal figure from different angles. Nicolas traces Father Boris's spiritual and intellectual formation, from his childhood in the Russian emigration to his ecumenical commitment. Alexis bears witness to the balance between universal spiritual fatherhood and concrete family love. Olga describes the last nine months of Father Boris's life, marked by disability, the celebration of liturgies at the sick man's bedside and a serene progression toward death. These testimonies constitute a first-hand biographical source on a major figure of Orthodox theology in the diaspora in the twentieth century.