Saint Benjamin of Petrograd was an Eastern Orthodox metropolitan who served the church in Saint Petersburg during the early Soviet era. Born Vasily Pavlovich Kazansky in 1873, he rose through the monastic ranks to become a prominent educator and eventually the Metropolitan of Petrograd and Gdov. He is remembered for his nonviolent resistance to state-led anti-religious campaigns and his commitment to maintaining an apolitical stance during the Russian Civil War. His leadership during a period of intense persecution led to his execution by a firing squad in 1922.