Dimitry of Rostov

Demetrius of Rostov (Russian: Димитрий Ростовский, romanized: Dimitry Rostovsky, Ukrainian: Димитрій Ростовський, romanized: Dymytrii Rostovskyi, secular name Daniil Savvich Tuptalo, Russian: Даниил Саввич Туптало, or Tuptalenko, Russian: Тупталенко, according to some sources; 11 December 1651 – 28 October 1709) was a leading opponent of the Caesaropapist reform of the Russian Orthodox church promoted by Theophan Prokopovich. He is representative of the strong Cossack Baroque influence upon the Russian Orthodox Church at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Demetrius is sometimes credited as composer or compiler of the first Russian opera, the lengthy Rostov Mysteries of 1705, though the exact nature of this work, as well as its place in history, is open to debate.

He is the author of several written works, out of which the most famous is The Lives of Saints (Четьи-Минеи). He was also involved in the creation of the forged document Synodic act on the heretic of Armenia, the monk Martin, which was used against the Old Believers.

Read more about this composer on Wikipedia.