Iosafat Snagoveanu

Iosafat Snagoveanu (Romanian pronunciation: [josaˈfat snaɡoˈve̯anu]; also credited as Ioasaf Znagoveanu, born Ion Vărbileanu [iˈon vərbiˈle̯anu]; April 22, 1797–November 3, 1872) was a Wallachian revolutionary and monk of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Born in Prahova County, in a village on the Vărbilău River valley, he was educated at the seminary of the . He was ordained a priest in 1829, assigned to Slănic parish, and soon made archpriest of Mizil. Left a widower, he entered a monastery under the name Iosafat, and for a time was an administrator at the Buzău Diocese. Iosafat resumed his education at Saint Sava College in Bucharest, and served as a priest at the Saint Sava Monastery, then at Curtea Veche. After finishing school, he was named professor at Saint Sava. From April 1844 to November 1848, he was hegumen of  [ro], from which he took his name.^[1]

Iosafat was an active participant in the Wallachian Revolution of 1848, serving on a commission for freeing the Roma slaves. As a result, he was forced to flee, first to Transylvania and then to Dobruja, where Metropolitan Dionisie ordained him archimandrite. Iosafat ultimately settled in Paris, where he organized the Romanian community around a chapel at 22 rue Racine. The building was blessed in 1855, and he served there until his death.^[1] He was buried in the parochial crypt at Montparnasse Cemetery.^[2]

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