RELIGIOUS FIGURES from Armenia

Top 4

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Armenian Religious Figures of all time. This list of famous Armenian Religious Figures is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Gregory the Illuminator (257 - 331)

With an HPI of 69.08, Gregory the Illuminator is the most famous Armenian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 42 different languages on wikipedia.

Gregory the Illuminator (Classical Armenian: Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ, reformed spelling: Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ, Grigor Lusavorich; c. 257 – c. 328) was the founder and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism to Christianity in the early fourth century (traditionally dated to 301), making Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion. He is venerated as a saint in the Armenian Apostolic Church and in some other churches. Gregory is said to have been the son of a Parthian nobleman, Anak, who assassinated the Arsacid king of Armenia Khosrov II. The young Gregory was saved from the extermination of Anak's family and was raised as a Christian in Caesarea of Cappadocia. Gregory returned to Armenia as an adult and entered the service of King Tiridates III, who had Gregory tortured after he refused to make a sacrifice to a pagan goddess. After discovering Gregory's true identity, Tiridates had him thrown into a deep pit well called Khor Virap for 14 years. Gregory was miraculously saved from death and released after many years with the help of Tiridates' sister Khosrovidukht. Gregory then converted the King to Christianity, and Armenia then became the first country to adopt Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD. Gregory, the Illuminator, then healed King Tiridates, who the hagiographical sources say had been transfomed into a boar for his sins, and preached Christianity in Armenia. He was consecrated bishop of Armenia at Caesarea, baptized King Tiridates and the Armenian people, and traveled throughout Armenia, destroying pagan temples and building churches in their place. Gregory eventually gave up the patriarchate to live as a hermit and was succeeded by his son Aristaces. Gregory's descendants, called the Gregorids, hereditarily held the office of Patriarch of Armenia with some interruptions until the fifth century. It is in Gregory's honor that the Armenian Church is sometimes called lusavorchʻakan ("of the Illuminator") or Gregorian.

2. Servatius of Tongeren (400 - 384)

With an HPI of 58.39, Servatius of Tongeren is the 2nd most famous Armenian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Saint Servatius (Dutch: Sint Servaas; French: Saint Servais; Limburgish: Sintervaos; Armenian: Սուրբ Սերվատիոս Surb Servatios; died 13 May 384) was bishop of Tongeren (Latin: Atuatuca Tungrorum, the capital of the Tungri). Servatius is patron saint of the city of Maastricht and the towns of Schijndel and Grimbergen. He is one of the Ice Saints. His feast day is May 13.

3. Sebeos (700 - 700)

With an HPI of 55.85, Sebeos is the 3rd most famous Armenian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Sebeos (Armenian: Սեբեոս) was a 7th-century Armenian bishop and historian. Little is known about the author, though a signature on the resolution of the Ecclesiastical Council of Dvin in 645 reads 'Bishop Sebeos of Bagratunis.' His writings are valuable as one of the few intact surviving sources that chronicle 6th-century Armenia and its surrounding territories. The history of Sebeos contains detailed descriptions from the period of Sassanid supremacy in Armenia up to the Islamic conquest in 661. His history was published for the first time in 1851 in Istanbul.

4. Karekin II (1951 - )

With an HPI of 55.39, Karekin II is the 4th most famous Armenian Religious Figure.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Catholicos Garegin II (Armenian: Գարեգին Բ, also spelled Karekin; born 21 August 1951) is the Catholicos of All Armenians, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, since 1999. In 2013 he was unanimously elected the Oriental Orthodox head of the World Council of Churches for the next eight years.