Porphyrius

Bishop Porphyrius (; secular name: Konstantin Aleksandrovich Uspensky; ; 8 September 1804 – 19 April 1885) was a Russian traveller, theologian, orientalist, archaeologist and byzantinologist, founder of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, and discoverer of several ancient codices. From 1865 on, he was auxiliary bishop of Chigirin.

Life Lithograph of Saint Catherine's Monastery, based on sketches made by Uspensky in 1857.

Konstantin Uspensky was born on 8 September 1804 in Kostroma, Russian Empire. He finished religious school in 1818 and four years after, he finished his studies at the Theological Seminary in Kostroma. Four pre-Iconoclast encaustic icons brought by Uspensky from Sinai are still preserved in Kyiv, Ukraine.

In 1869, he received a doctoral degree in Greek philosophy. Uspensky died on 19 April 1885 and was buried in the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow.

Works Путешествие по Египту и в монастыри Святого Антония Великого и Преподобного Павла Фивейского, в 1850 году. Petersburg, 1856. Путешествие по Египту и в монастыри Святого Антония Великого и Преподобного Павла Фивейского, в 1850 году. СПб., 1856. 'Christian East: Egypt and Sinai' (Восток христианский: Египет и Синай), Petersburg, 1857. Мнение о синайской Библии (полемика с Тишендорфом, 1862). (About Codex Sinaiticus, polemic with Tischendorf). "Восток христианский. Абиссиния", in: "Труды Киевской Академии", 1866. 'History of Athos' (История Афона), Two volumes, 1871. Второе путешествие в афонские монастыри, (Москва, 1880). Дионисий Ареопагит и его творения, в: "Чтения Московского Общества Любителей Духовного Просвещения", 1885.