Gary L. Browning

Gary L. Browning (1940–2024) was an American Russian language academic and was the first mission president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Russia, and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Early life and education Born in St. Maries, Idaho, Browning was a missionary for the LDS Church in Finland as a young man. Upon returning from his mission, he earned a bachelor's degree in Russian from Brigham Young University, a master's degree from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. This mission was headquartered in Helsinki, but all its assigned missionaries preached in Russia and the Baltic states.

In February 1992, the Finland Helsinki East Mission was dissolved and divided into the Russia Moscow Mission and the Russia St. Petersburg Mission; Browning became the first president of the Moscow Mission and served in this capacity until July 1993.

Publications and speeches

—— (1985). Boris Pilniak: Scythian at a Typewriter (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Ardis) —— (1985). Workbook to Russian Root List (Columbus, Ohio: Slavica) —— (1986) ——. (2 November 1993) "Out of Obscurity: The Emergence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 'That Vast Empire of Russia'", (Provo, Utah) —— (1997). Russia and the Restored Gospel (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book) —— (2010). A "Labyrinth of Linkages" in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (Brighton, Mass.: Academic Studies Press)