True Theology by Photius Kontoglou

Translated by Gregory Heers

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Introduction

Photios (Photius), was born in Kydonies (Aivali) of Asia Minor in 1895. After the death of his father, his guardianship was assumed by his uncle, the Hieromonk Fr. Steven Kontoglou, abbot of the monastery of St. Paraskevi. Photis finished school in Aivali and was member of a group of students that published the magazine “Melissa” (“Bee”), which Kontoglou decorated with drawings. He enrolled himself into the School of Fine Arts in Athens and thereafter went to Paris (1914), where he studied the various schools of painting. After much wandering and many travels, he settled in Athens. In 1923 he journeyed to the Holy Mountain, where he discovered Byzantine iconography; ever since then he strove for the revival of this art.