Gregory the Illuminator
Patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church (c.257–c.331)
- Fame54.6
- Momentum0.0
- Religious Figures rank#241
Source-basedStable
- Fame54.6
- Momentum0.0
- Religious Figures rank#241
- Wikipedia11.4K
Lived 252–329, aged 77
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Summary
Updated 2026-06-08
He turned an entire kingdom Christian after surviving 14 years at the bottom of a pit — punishment for refusing to honor a pagan goddess. The man who threw him in became his first convert, and Armenia became the first state to make Christianity official.
Biography
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Gregory was born around 257, the son of Anak, a Parthian nobleman who assassinated Armenia's King Khosrov II. While Anak's family was wiped out in retribution, the boy was smuggled to safety and raised Christian in Caesarea of Cappadocia. He returned to Armenia as an adult and entered the service of King Tiridates III — the dead king's son. When Gregory refused to sacrifice to a pagan goddess, Tiridates had him tortured; when the king learned who Gregory's father was, he had him thrown into a deep pit called Khor Virap and left for dead. Fourteen years later, with the king's sister interceding…
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Fame
Stable54.6
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Historical22.7
Source confidence60.0
Completeness60.0
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- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
- WikipediaHigh confidencewikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
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