Saint Innocent (Innokentii), Metropolitan of Moscow

Saint Innocent (born Ivan Popov-Veniaminov), Metropolitan of Moscow (1797–1879), was a notable missionary and educator of the peoples of the Americas and Siberia. Over the course of 45 years, he baptized tens of thousands of people, built churches and schools, and studied the languages, customs, and traditions of local populations. His ethnographic and linguistic works achieved worldwide renown: he created a grammar of the Aleut language and translated liturgical texts into it. In 1868, he became Metropolitan of Moscow, founded the Missionary Society, and promoted the development of missions, including the mission in Japan. He was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1977.