Editing Meletius Smotrytsky (section)

==General==
Born in [[Smotrych (urban-type settlement)|Smotrych]], [[Podilia]], Meletius was the son of the famous writer and pedagogue [[Herasym Smotrytsky]]. He received his first formal education at the [[Ostroh Academy]], where his father was a [[Rector (academia)|rector]]. The academy is the oldest institution of higher learning in [[Eastern Europe]]. Later, he studied at [[Vilnius University]], a [[Jesuit]] institution, between approximately 1596 and 1600. After that, Smotrytsky traveled through Europe, continuing his education at universities in [[Leipzig]], [[Wittenberg]], and [[Nuremberg]].

In 1608, Meletius returned to [[Vilnius]] where he became a member of a local fraternity. Under his [[pen name]] ''Theophile Ortologue''{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} he wrote his famous polemic "Thrynos".<ref name = "IEU">[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CS%5CM%5CSmotrytskyMeletii.htm Smotrytsky, Meletii], Encyclopedia of Ukraine</ref> Sometime in 1615-18 Smotrytsky was a teacher of Church Slavonic and Latin in the newly established Kyiv Fraternity School.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Subsequently, he became one of its first rectors.  In 1616, he published a [[Ruthenian language|Ruthenian]] translation of "Teacher's Gospel... of Calisto" and in 1615 in [[Cologne]] he published a Greek-language grammar.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} In 1618, Smotrytsky returned to Vilnius where at the [[Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit, Vilnius|Holy Spirit Monastery]] he took vows as a monk and assumed the name Miletius. There, in the city of [[Vievis]], he participated in publishing ''Dictionary of the Slavic Language'' (1618){{citation needed|date=November 2022}}. Later, in 1619, he published ''Slavonic Grammar with Correct Syntax''.<ref name = "IEU"/>

In 1620, Meletius Smotrytsky became the Archbishop of Polotsk (Metropolitan of Kyiv),<ref name = "IEU"/> bishop of Vitebsk and Mstyslaw.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Around that time he published several anti-Union (see [[Union of Brest]]) works for which he was persecuted by the Polish authorities. During 1624 Smotrytsky traveled to [[Constantinople]], [[Egypt]], [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], after which in 1625 he returned to [[Kyiv]].

Eventually, by 1627. he sided with followers of the Union with Rome and became the [[Archimandrite]] of the {{ill|Derman Monastery|pl|Monaster Trójcy Świętej w Dermaniu}}. After receiving Smotrytsky's homage in Rome, [[Pope Urban VIII]] granted Smotrytsky the title of [[Titular see|Titular]] [[Archdiocese of Hierapolis in Phrygia|Archbishop of Hierapolis]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andrej Nikolaevič Mouravieff |title=A History of the Church of Russia |publisher=J. H. Parker |year=1842 |pages=179}}</ref> Smotrytsky is buried at the Derman Monastery.