Iakovos Dimopoulos of Vatopaidi, Archimandrite (1853-1924)
Panagiotis Dimopoulos was born in 1853 in Agia Marina in Lokris. In 1871 he was tonsured a monk at Vatopaidi Monastery with the name Iakovos. From 1875 to 1879 he was a student at the Theological School of Chalki. After his return to the Monastery, he was advanced as prohegumenos, and in 1894 he was made an archimandrite. That same year he was sent to Moscow as a representative of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and also became the abbot of the patriarchal Metochion of Saint Sergius. He remained in this position until his death in 1924, confronting serious problems due to the poor financial condition of the Metochion and to the events surrounding the Revolution of 1917. During his long stay in Russia, Iakovos was distinguished by his aid to Greek students in Russia and by his efforts to improve the Metochion. He was also involved with writing, authoring various articles and discourses, of which those for the synodal library and the synodal sacristy of Moscow are of particular interest. Iakovos was honored with medals by the governments of Russia, Turkey, Greece and Serbia. Various personal items of his, as well as his massive archives, are preserved at the Monastery of Vatopaidi.
