Vol. 56, No. 4 (333) July-August, 2020

The Cosmic Iconographer: Alexei Leonov

by Archpriest Gennady Belovolov

This issue of The Orthodox Word features an unusual article by St. Petersburg Archpriest Gennady Belovolov, about his collaboration with famous Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov to produce an icon of the Mother of God. Known worldwide as the first man ever to carry out a “space walk” (1965), and as the cosmonaut who performed the historic “handshake in space” with American astronaut Thomas Stafford (1975), Leonov was a sincere Orthodox believer and an accomplished artist. Fr. Gennady recounts how he met Leonov and asked him to help paint the “Cosmic” Icon of the Theotokos, which graces the cover of this issue.

Also featured is the second part of the four-part life of New Hieromartyr Andronicus of Perm.