Ambrosi, originally Bessarion Z. Khelaia (September 7, 1861-March 29,1927), was a Georgian ecclesiastic figure, scientist, and public benefactor, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia in 1921-1927. By followers, he is also known as St. Ambrosi and sometimes styled His Holiness and Beatitude.

Ambrosi was born in 1861, in the Martvili (Mingrelia (Samegrelo) region of Western Georgia). In 1885 he graduated from the Theological Seminary of Tbilisi, in 1900 from the Kazan Theological Academy (Russia). In 1887-1896 he was a teacher of theology in Western Georgia.

He was one of the leaders of the movement for the restoration of Autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church in 1901-1917 (the Autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church was abolished by the Tsarist Russian Empire in 1811). In 1900s Ambrosi was jailed by the Russian government. In March, 1917 the Autocephaly of the Georgian Church was restored.

In March, 1917 Archimandrite Ambrosi was consecrated Metropolitan of Chkondidi (Western Georgia) and then transferred to Abkhazia. In 1921 he became the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia.

In February 25, 1921 the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921) was occupied and abolished by the Bolshevik regime of the Soviet Russia. The Soviet regime began a harsh persecution of the faith. It turned against the Georgian Orthodox Church with fire and sword, destroying 1200 temples, arresting and killing of Georgian monks.

On February 7, 1922, Ambrosi wrote a memorandum to the organizers and participants of the Genoa (Geneva) Conference. He was jailed by the Soviet regime. At the end of the process, in his final speech, he turned to his tormentors and said: "My soul belongs to God, my heart to Georgia, and with my body you may do whatever you please."

In 1926 he was released, but he did not live much longer. He died in 1927, in Tbilisi. In 1995 he was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Main fields of scientific activity of Ambrosi were: history of the Georgian Orthodox Church, source studies of the history of Christianity in Georgia.

Adapted from the Wikinfo article Ambrosi by Levan Urushadze, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.