Benjamin I of Constantinople
266th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople

Church	Church of Constantinople
In office	18 January 1936 – 17 February 1946
Predecessor	Photius II of Constantinople
Successor	Maximus V of Constantinople
Personal details
Born	Benjamin Psomas (Veniamin Psomas) (1871-01-18)18 January 1871 Edremit, Ottoman Empire
Died	17 February 1946(1946-02-17) (aged 75) Istanbul, Turkey

Benjamin I (Greek: Βενιαμίν Αʹ, 18 January 1871 – 17 February 1946) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1936 to 1946.

Early life

Benjamin was born as Benjamin Psomas on 18 January 1871, in Edremit, Ottoman Empire.^[1] From 1889 to 1896, he studied at the Halki seminary.^[2]

Career

In 1912, he was appointed as the Metropolitan of Rhodes, in 1914, he was appointed as the Metropolitan of Silybria, and was later moved to the Metropolis of Philippopolis, but was unable to perform his duties due to the outbreak of World War I.^[2]

On 18 January 1936, the Holy Synod voted to elevated Benjamin from Metropolitan bishop to Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople following the death of Photius II.^[3]

Benjamin died in Istanbul on 17 February 1946, after suffering from bronchitis and was succeeded by Maximus V.^[4] At the 1946 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America national convention, two minutes of silence were given in honor of Benjamin and a delegate from Pope Pius XII attended his funeral.^[5]^[6]

References

^ "Veniamis I, patriarch of Constantinople".
^ ^a ^b "Βενιαμίν Αʹ". Archived from the original on April 22, 2020.
^ "266th Patriarch". Detroit Free Press. 19 January 1936. p. 8. Archived from the original on April 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Patriarch Benjamin Dies". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 19 February 1946. p. 9. Archived from the original on April 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Greek Orthodox Archbishop Lets Delegates Smoke". The Boston Globe. 4 November 1946. p. 21. Archived from the original on April 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Maximos Elevated To Patriarch". The Bee. 22 February 1946. p. 8. Archived from the original on April 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

Eastern Orthodox Church titles Preceded byPhotius II Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1936–1946 Succeeded byMaximus V

v t e Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Byzantium (Roman period, 38–330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople (Roman period, 330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Byzantine period, 451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Ottoman period, 1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Turkish period, since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal