Fyodor Vladimirsky (1843–1932) — Archpriest
One of the most remarkable City of Arzamas figures of the turn of the century, Archpriest Fyodor Vladimirsky was born into the family of a rural psalm-reader. After graduating from the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary, he taught the Law of God at a primary school. His subsequent career record includes positions as a member of the theological school's governing board, a judicial investigator, and a deputy for ecclesiastical affairs. In 1895, Father Fyodor was appointed dean of the First Arzamas Church District, and from 1899 he served as archpriest of the Trinity Cathedral. Father Fyodor was not only a respected clergyman but also a well-known figure in the city. From 1874 onward he distinguished himself as an active member of the Arzamas City Duma. In civic service he oversaw the water-collection system, and from 1890 he headed the construction of a water-supply network that had been launched on his initiative. He undertook this because the people of Arzamas — the poor in particular — drew water from a chain of ponds running one after another through the town, into which, naturally, all manner of refuse drained.
Father Fyodor tracked down a ravine outside the city where numerous clean-water springs were plentiful, organized their development, and brought water to the town. He did all of this, as people say nowadays, on a volunteer basis: he sought out benefactors, persuaded officials, invested his own money, and even mortgaged his personal property. Thanks to the archpriest's diligence and determination, the water-supply system was inaugurated in 1912. It is worth noting that the archpriest of the Trinity Church was the first resident of Arzamas who, despite the policeman stationed at the front porch, came to make the acquaintance of Maxim Gorky, who had been exiled to City of Arzamas. "I made the acquaintance of a priest," Maxim Gorky wrote in one of his letters. "A fine, rare priest." The exiled writer and the clergyman visited each other, held philosophical conversations, and argued. Father Fyodor, as a close acquaintance, later received letters from Gorky written in Italy. Owing to his great authority among the people of Arzamas and Nizhny Novgorod, in January 1907 Fyodor Vladimirsky was elected a deputy to the 2nd State Duma from Nizhny Novgorod Governorate. In his new role he did not merely justify the trust of his constituents — he became one of the prominent figures of that "mutinous" Duma. He pressed the Minister of Education for funds to open a teacher-training seminary in Arzamas, spoke out against field courts-martial, and petitioned for the pardon of four revolutionaries sentenced to death. From a legal standpoint the death sentence was lawful and fully justified, but Father Fyodor's approach was not a legal one — it was a Christian one: he was opposed to violent death in general, regardless of whether the killer would be the law or its opponent. What is more, he stood against any form of violence against the individual, whatever the stated justification. "Mercy is needed, not sacrifice," he implored the government, while also reproving those who undermined civic order. This speech provoked furious attacks on the Arzamas priest from certain political figures and from diocesan authorities. Father Fyodor's active civic stance was inherited by his children — and there were eight of them in the Vladimirsky family. With the exception of the eldest daughter Maria, all of them joined the revolutionary movement. The most remarkable of them was Mikhail. A professional revolutionary and a comrade of Lenin's, after the October Revolution he held positions of responsibility: People's Commissar of Health, Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, and Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets. Father Fyodor lived to see Soviet power established in the country. The Trinity Church was closed, its crosses torn down, its sacred vessels looted — but the priest himself was left untouched. He lived with the family of his eldest daughter, worked in the water-supply service, received a personal pension, and died quietly at the age of 89. …In City of Arzamas, during the Soviet era, a street was named after the Bolshevik Mikhail Vladimirsky; after perestroika it was renamed after the priest Fyodor Vladimirsky. "So the name was preserved," say the townspeople.