10th–11th century
Saint Vladimir the Great, Equal-to-the-Apostles
Grand Prince of Kiev (c. 958–1015) who was baptised and led the Rus' to Christianity.
Biography
Vladimir was born in 958, the son of Sviatoslav, prince of Kiev, and Malusha. He took the throne of Kiev and was at first a pagan, with many wives and twenty-three children.
Through the prayers, tradition says, of his grandmother Saint Olga, the first Christian queen of Russia, and divine illumination, he came to believe in Christ, was baptised at Kiev, and married Anna, sister of the Byzantine emperor Basil II.
He tore down the idols of the land, baptised most of the Rus', and built churches in Kiev, leading the Rus' people to Christianity. He died peacefully on 15 July 1015.