Paul Nikolaevich Evdokimov (Russian:Павел Николаевич Евдокимов) (August 2 [O.S. July 20], 1901 – September 16, 1970) was anOrthodox Christiantheologian, professor at theSt. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute, andémigré.
Paul Evdokimov's theological thought is marked by the attempt to synthesise two important currents in20th century Orthodox thought, namely the "neo-patristic" renewal and the insights of the Russian religious philosophers.[1]
Born inSaint Petersburg to a noble family, Evdokimov was forced to leave Russia in the wake of theOctober Revolution. Fleeing first toConstantinople (now Istanbul), the family then moved toParis, where a large community ofRussian émigrés had found refuge. In this milieu, Evdokimov met and collaborated with leading émigré thinkers such asSergei Bulgakov andNikolai Berdyaev.
In 1927, Paul Evdokimov married Natasha Brunel, a French teacher of Russian origin, and moved toMenton, Provence. They had two children, Nina (1928) andMichel (1930–2025). With the advent ofWorld War II and theItalian occupation of Menton, the family moved toValence, Drôme. In 1942, Evdokimov defended hisPhD thesis on Dostoyevsky and theproblem of evil.[2]
The end of the war coincided with Brunel's death from cancer, and the family relocated to Paris. There Evdokimov became involved in theFrench Resistance via theCimade refugee aid group.[3] This work continued after the end of the war, and in 1953, Paul became a professor in theSt. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris.
Paul Evdokimov remarried in 1954, to Tomoko Sakai, an English-Japanese interpreter. From 1958 to 1961, he published several books on Orthodox theology. Evdokimov continued to participate in ecumenical organisations throughout the 1960s, and received a doctoratehonoris causa from theUniversity of Thessaloniki. He died in his sleep on September 16, 1970.
Evdokimov was influenced by the following:Sergei Bulgakov,Nikolai Berdyaev,Nicholas Afanasiev,Lev Gillet,Anton Kartashev,Georgy Fedotov,Carl Jung,Fyodor Dostoevsky,Simone Weil,Dietrich Bonhoeffer,Simone de Beauvoir andSigmund Freud.[4]
