Georgiy, the son of a priest, went to school in Ananyev, a city where half of the population was Jewish. He studied law, mathematics and philology at Novorossiysk University.. Influenced by Nicanor, Bishop of Kherson, he chose the Orthodox ministry. Following his education in Saint Petersburg Theological Seminary in 1892, Dolganyov accepted the name Hermogenes. In 1893 he became the inspector of the Tiflis Theological Seminary in Tbilisi, and in 1898 became its dean. In 1899, Hermogenes was responsible for expelling one of seminary's most famous students, Joseph Dzhugashvili, who had been reading Ninety-Three and lecturing students on Marxism. In 1903 he became the Bishop of Saratov and Tsaritsyn and had a seat in the Holy Synod. In the church he introduced singing by the people, promoted processions, founded schools, and started mission work. Hermogenes founded the Annunciation Convent and Saint Trinity Monastery in Khvalynsk, in Volskthe Town Church of Annunciation. in June 1914. In 1905, Hermogenes, probably the most widely respected figure in the Russian Orthodox Church, became a friend of Grigori Rasputin from the time he arrived in the capital. Rasputin stayed at Alexander Nevsky Lavra; there he met with Hermogenes and Theophanes of Poltava, who were amazed with his psychological perspicacity. For a time, Bishop Hermogen and Rasputin became allies in the struggle against freethinking and modernism. His rhetoric was so outrageous that local officials suppressed the newspaper of his diocese. In 1909, Rasputin visited Hermogen in Saratov and Iliodor in Tsaritsyn. Within two years the three men became bitter enemies. In December 1911, Hermogenes and Iliodor came into conflict with Rasputin, who chose a different strategy and had almost free access to the Imperial family. Hermogen started rumours that Rasputin had joined the Khlysty, an obscure Christian sect with strong Siberian roots. After having been beaten by Hermogen, in a monastery on Vasilyevsky Island, Rasputin complained to the Imperial couple. Within a few weeks and without a trial, Hermogenes and his assistant Mitya Kozelsky, a holy fool, were expelled to the Zhyrovichy Monastery. From August 1915 he lived in Ugresha Monastery. In 1917 he was appointed as Archbishop of Tobolsk and Siberia. He established contacts with the Imperial Family in Ekaterinburg. In April 1918, Hermogenes was arrested by Bolsheviks and drowned in the Tura River, not far from the birthplace of his nemesis Rasputin. His body was found on 3 July and buried in a nearby village, then reburied in the Sophia cathedral of Tobolsk.
