Cyril

Cyril, cyrillic alphabet The alphabet used in the Soviet Union and some other Slavic countries is the cyrillic alphabet, a modified Greek alphabet. The author of this invention has never been satisfactorily established, but the name Cyril has been attached to it, and it is commonly known as the cyrillic alphabet.

Saint Cyril (827–869) and Saint Methodius (825–885) were brothers and Greek churchmen. The brothers were born in Solon, a principal city in Macedonia, and their father was a nobleman of imperial Byzantium. Cyril's secular name was Constantine. He received a fine education and became a librarian to Hagia Sophia, a patriarch of the church, but resigned after a short time to enter a monastery where his brother was studying.

Having acquired a knowledge of Slavic, the brothers were sent to teach the gospel to the Slavs in Moravia. Some time later, the neighboring Germans charged them with heresy. Pope Nicholas I recalled them and exonerated them. The brothers then began a translation of the liturgy and the Bible into Slavic. Saint Methodius actually finished the work, even though the name of the alphabet is Saint Cyril's. Constantine adopted the name Cyril during his last illness, Cyril being his patron saint.