Background
Anthim was born in the Kingdom of Kartli, a Georgian kingdom known as Iberia in the west.
calligrapher philosopher priest writer
Anthim was born in the Kingdom of Kartli, a Georgian kingdom known as Iberia in the west.
In 1689 or 1690, he was asked to settle in Wallachia by Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu, and was given charge of the newly founded printing press in Bucharest. Being appointed father superior (egumen) of the Snagov Monastery, Anthim moved the press to the new location. He became bishop of Râmnic in 1705, and in 1708 Metropolitan of Wallachia.
Anthim spoke and wrote many Oriental and European languages.
In 1693, he published the Gospels in Romanian. In addition, Anthim published 25 other books - in Romanian, as well as Church Slavonic, Greek, and Arabic (usually in bilingual volumes, such as the Greek-Arabic Missal of 1702).
This meant that he was also the first in Wallachia to use Arabic fonts). His personal work, Didahiile, was a collection of sermons meant as a sharp critique of contemporary habits and morals.
Notably, beside Christian sources, Anthim made reference to classical philosophy.
Alongside his literary output, the cleric was the builder of the All-Saints Monastery in Bucharest - nowadays known as the Antim Monastery in his memory. Anthim"s overt opposition to Ottoman tutelage over Wallachia made him an adversary of the Phanariote regime. The new Prince Nicholas Mavrocordatos imprisoned him, and subsequently exiled him to Mount Sinai.
Anthim was captured by the Ottomans while he was taking the trip, and assassinated somewhere in modern-day Bulgaria (his body would have been discarded in the Maritsa or the Tundzha).
lieutenant is alleged that his murder was ordered by Mavrocordatos himself.