Athenagoras I of Constantinople

Born Aristocles Matthaiou Spyrou on 6 April 1886, he spent two formative decades as Archbishop of North and South America from 1930 to 1948, weaving together Greek communities across two continents. In November 1948 he was elected the 268th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, assuming the chair held without interruption since the fourth century. For the next twenty-four years he served as primus inter pares - first among equals - guiding Eastern Orthodox Christianity worldwide from a precarious perch in a city no longer Christian, no longer even called by its ancient name. He died in office on 7 July 1972, having outlasted empires and held a line of succession older than most nations.