Background
Agapius Honcharenko was born on August 19, 1832, in Kiev, Kyyivs'ka Oblast', Ukraine. He was born to a prominent Cossack family (he was a descendant of Ivan Bohun).
correspondent priest publisher
Agapius Honcharenko was born on August 19, 1832, in Kiev, Kyyivs'ka Oblast', Ukraine. He was born to a prominent Cossack family (he was a descendant of Ivan Bohun).
Agapius Honcharenko graduated from the Kyiv Theological Seminary and entered the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
Agapius Honcharenko was sent to Athens in 1857 to serve as a deacon at the embassy's church, where he began to contribute anonymous articles to Alexander Herzen's London-based Kolokol that clamored for the emancipation of Russian serfs and denounced his own church for supporting such an unequal system. These articles caused much unrest in Russia, and after months of trying to determine the identity of the mystery writer, Russian authorities discovered and arrested him in 1860. Agapius Honcharenko was able to escape from the Russian prison in Constantinople by disguising himself as a Turk and walking out the front door.
After his escape, Agapius Honcharenko traveled to London to rejoin the Kolokol staff until the newspaper discontinued publication upon the freeing of the serfs, then returned to Athens again.
Afterward, Agapius Honcharenko traveled extensively to Syria, Jerusalem, Egypt, and Turkey. While in Alexandria, he served as confessor to Leo Tolstoy. Returning to London, he met Italian patriot Giuseppe Mazzini, who advised him to immigrate to the United States, which Agapius Honcharenko did in 1865.
After his arrival, he traveled around the country, first to Philadelphia where he met the woman who would become his wife. In New York City, Agapius Honcharenko established the first Orthodox liturgy in the U.S. outside of Alaska. He also helped establish a Greek Orthodox church in New Orleans and did work in Alaska before finally settling in San Francisco. Before immigrating, Agapius Honcharenko had changed his name to protect his family from persecution for his anti-Russian writings. Through his travels, he became friends with many notable Americans, among them Eugene Schuyler, Horace Greeley, Charles R. Dana, Hamilton Fish, Henry Wager Halleck, William H. Seward, and Henry George.
While living in San Francisco, Agapius Honcharenko published The Alaska Herald, aimed at Russian residents of Alaska, from 1868 to 1872, which included both Russian and Ukrainian language supplements. The Russian supplement titled Svoboda (Freedom) was the first Russian language newspaper in the U.S.
After founding a farm, "Ukraina Ranch", located in Hayward, California, in 1873, he continued to publish political literature, which was smuggled into Czarist Russia.
Agapius Honcharenko and his wife Albina are buried on the farm, which is now registered as California Historical Landmark, located in Garin Regional Park near California State University, Hayward.
In 1862 Agapius Honcharenko participated in the Greek Revolution.
Agapius Honcharenko was married to Albina Zitti.
