Anna Vsevolodovna of Kiev

Russian Wikipedia retrieved January 2021

Anna (Yanka) Vsevolodovna (according to various sources, she was born either in the second half of the 11th century [1] , or between 1046 and 1067 [2] , or no later than 1055 or 1060 [3] , or around 1068 [4] - November 3, 1112 [1] or 1113 [5] or October 7, 1110 [2] ) - princess, daughter of the Kiev prince Vsevolod , presumably from his first marriage with a Greek princess , sister of the Grand Duke Vladimir Monomakh [6] . Numbered among the monks [3] , commemoration: May 18 (uncovering of relics),November 3 and at the Council of all the reverends .

A nun. Was engaged to Constantine Ducas (son of Michael VII), but never married. [this is not certain]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Vsevolodovna_of_Kiev

Anna Vsevolodovna of Kiev also called Ianka (died 3 November 1112), was a Russian princess and nun, noted for having introduced schools for girls in Kievan Rus. She was the daughter of Vsevolod I of Kiev and Anastasia. She was engaged to the Byzantine prince Konstantios Doukas in 1074.[1] The marriage never materialized, as Constantine Dukas was forced to become a monk in 1081 and died in 1082 before they could be married. In 1089, Anna lead an embassy to Byzantium with the purpose of selecting a new metropolitan of Russia.[2] During her stay in Constantinople, she was impressed by the scholarly learning in Byzantium, at that time a center of culture and education, and upon her return to Rus, she introduced an innovation of learning for women.[2] Her intended Byzantine marriage not having been realized, she remained unmarried, and instead founded a convent for women named Ianchinii.[2] She became a nun and started a school for girls.[3] Her convent school was the first school for girls in Russia.[2] She organized the school herself, selecting the teachers, preceptresses, requirements and curriculum, offering "writhing, needlework and other useful crafts", such as rhetoric and singing.[2] Her innovation introduced the Byzantine tradition of education for upper class women in Kievan Rus, and during the 12th and 13th centuries, convent schools became common in Kievan Rus, founded and managed by Princesses, noblewomen and abbesses, and many aristocratic and clerical women became literate and educated in Greek and Latin, philosophy and mathematics and several nuns and abbesses noted writers.[2]

https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2000/11/03/108919-princess-anna-vs...

Princess Anna Vsevolodna

Commemorated on November 3

The Holy Princess Anna Vsevolodna was daughter of the Kievan Great Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich (1078-1093) whose wife was daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monomachos. She did not wish to marry, and as a virgin she took monastic tonsure in 1082 at the Andreiev Yanchinov monastery built for her at Kiev, but later destroyed under the Tatar invasion. The nun and princess Anna journeyed to Constantinople, from which she returned in the company of the newly-consecrated Metropolitan John the Eunuch. She died in the year 1112.

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%92%D1%81...

АННА ВСЕВОЛОДОВНА, именуемая в русских летописях Янкою, великая княжна дочь Всеволода I Ярославича, великого князя киевского, от первого брака с «греческой царевной», «мономахиней», причтенная православной церковью к лику святых.

Год ее рождения не известен. Постригшись девицей в монастыре Андреевском, основанном отцом ее в Киеве, она завела тут женское училище, первое в Европе по времени, в 1086 г.; ездила в Константинополь, откуда вывезла с собой Иоанна, скопца, восьмого по счету и третьего между соименниками митрополита киевского и всей Руси, в 1089 г.; умерла в Киеве 3 ноября 1113 г.

Тело ее положено в Андреевском монастыре, именовавшемся по ней Янчиным и не оставившем по себе никаких следов; самое место его, подле киевской Десятинной церкви, указывается гадательно.

References

• https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2020/11/holy-princess-anna-vsevolo...
• A History of Russia: Kievan Russia. George Vernadsky, Michael Karpovich Yale University Press, 1943 - Volume 2. GoogleBooks
• Women in Russian History: From the Tenth to the Twentieth Century. By Natalia Pushkareva. Page 15. GoogleBooks
• 2) A. Vsevolodovna , Yanka - daughter of Vsevolod I and daughter of Greek. imperial. Konstantin Monomakh, sister of V. book Vladimir Monomakh . She was tonsured in Kiev at the church of St. Andrew in the monastery founded by her. Was with her mother in Constantinople and † in Kiev on November 3. 1113 Wed "East. dictionary of st. Russians” digital image
• http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/RUSSIA,%20Rurik.htm#VladimirMonomac... 6. IANKA [Anna] Vsevolodovna (-3 Nov 1112). The Primary Chronicle names Ianka, daughter of Vsevolod, recording that she became a nun "while still a maiden" at the convent of the Church of St Andrew founded by her father[375]. In 1089 she was sent to Constantinople to accompany the new Metropolitan, Ioann III, back to Kiev[376]. Abbess of Janczyn.
• ”Anna Dalassene and Anna (Yanka) Vsevolodovna: Byzantine Experience and Monastic Foundations in Old Rus.” link to abstract the Monastery of St Andrew in Kiev which were built by Grand Prince of Kiev Vsevolod Yaroslavich (1078—1093) for his daughter Janka (the 1080s). ...
• RAFFENSPERGER, C. (2003). EVPRAKSIA VSEVOLODOVNA BETWEEN EAST AND WEST. Russian History, 30(1/2), 23-34. Retrieved January 16, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24660863