Vasil Grigorovich-Barsky

Plaque commemorating Vasyl Grigorovich-Barsky's visit to Cyprus, Agia Napa Cathedral, Limassol.

Vasily Grigoryevich Grigorovich-Barsky (Russian: Василий Григорьевич Григорович-Барский, Ukrainian: Василь Григорович Григорович-Барський; born 1 (N.S. 12) January 1701 - died 7 (18) October 1747) was an Eastern Orthodox monk and traveller from Kiev. He spent more than 20 years travelling around Southern Europe and the Middle East, leaving an autobiographic account of his journeys.

His first name may be romanized as Basil, Vasili, Vasyl or Vasil.

Biography

Vasyl Grigorovich-Barsky (left) depicted on a Ukrainian coin

Grigorovich-Barsky was born in Litky near Kiev. He came from a rich merchant family originally from the town of Bar in Podillia. Vasyl's younger brother Ivan Hryhorovych-Barskyi became a well-known architect. In 1715, the family moved to Kyiv, where Vasyl's father served as a prefect of Pyrohoshcha Church. Against his father's will, Vasyl enlisted in the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. However, in 1723 he had to leave the studies due to ill health and traveled to Lviv (then part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) to seek medical advice. There Hryhorovych-Barskyi, disguised as a Uniate, became a student in a Jesuit academy.

In 1724, after a conflict at the academy, Grigorovich-Barsky left Lviv and started his journey, during which he visited Pest, Vienna, Bari, Rome, Venice, Corfu, Mount Athos, Palestine, Egypt and Cyprus. In Alexandria Grigorovich-Barsky lived at the court of the Patriarch. In 1729-1731 he stayed in Tripoli, learning Greek. After arriving at Patmos in 1734, Grigorovich-Barsky became a monk, spending the next six years at the local monastery. In 1743 he was appointed a priest at the Russian embassy in Constantinople by empress Yelizaveta Petrovna, and for the next two years studied documents in the libraries of Mount Athos.

Vasyl Grigorovich-Barsky were in Athos, Athens and Crete from 1744 to 1746. He returned to Constantinople in 1746, where he had a conflict with the new Russian diplomat, Adrian Ivanovich Neplyuev, who accused him for Philhellenism and betrayal of national interests. Vasyl was afraid to be arrested and wanted to prove the injustice of accusation against him. He returned to Kiev in the 2d of October 1747 through Bulgaria, Wallachia and Poland. As he was severe ill at that time, he died a month later.