A gem-set silver-gilt and cloisonné enamel icon of Our Lady of Kazan, mark of Dmitry Orlov, the halo mark of Kuzma Konov, Moscow, 1908-1917

Mikhail Emilianovich Edlinsky was born in 1859 in the village of Yushkovo in the Mogilev province into a family of psalmists. At the age of twenty, on the recommendation of the rector of the Mogilev Theological Seminary, he entered the Theological Academy of Kiev, from which he graduated in 1885. Shortly after, the Synod offered Edlinsky to become the teacher of Ecclesiastical History at the Academy. In parallel, he taught at the First college for commerce as well as at a women’s private gymnasium. On the 22 July 1887, he married Anna Nikolaevna Kozlova, the daughter of a priest, with whom he would have seven children.

Ordained a priest in 1893 and archpriest in 1900, Father Mikhail served in the Borisoglebsk Church in Podol, a district of Kiev, until its closure in 1933. Father Mikhail’s accomplishments is his parish were substantial. One of his main priorities was the fight against what he considered the greatest plight- alcoholism. To this end, the priest founded the Kiev Sobriety Society and, in his battle, found a long-forgotten decree which forbade alcohol to be sold in the vicinity of Churches. The clergyman extensively reduced drunkenness by actively helping those in need. Extremely popular and admired amongst the Kievites and in surrounding villages, the priest was receiving an impressive number of letters thanking him for his work. These often contained donations. With the substantial church donations he was receiving, Father Mikhail was able to build an orphanage, nursery and a refuge for people in need. 

In 1905, the priest actively participated in the defense of Jews during the pogroms in Kiev along with Alexander Glagolev, another highly important clergyman. The editor in chief of 'Russian Globe' in Chicago wrote of them:

'During the cruel autumn of 1905 in the midst of pogroms and murder, people poured out on the streets again. A small procession meddles into the outraged crowd wearing ecclesiastical robes, carrying icons, crosses, and church banners. It is headed by the Russian priests Alexander Glagolev and Mikhail Edlinsky. Across Kontraktova Square and Gostinny Riad the procession moves towards the Jewish shops. The clergymen admonish the crowd not to participate in this evil, unchristian act. Some people in the mob recognise their spiritual leaders and take off their hats out of respect. The crowd starts hesitating, trembling, gets thinner and gradually breaks up. This happened more than once.'

After the Revolution in 1917 Father Mikhail remained one of the few moral guides of among the Kiev clergy, fearlessly pointing out the truth and standing up against the persecutions of the Soviet government.

In November 1937 Father Mikhail was arrested, imprisoned in the Lukianovskaya prison, tortured and executed on 17 November 1937. He was 78 years old. In 1989, Father Mikhail was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia to the ranks of Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

The design of the present oklad after the design by S. Vashkov, the chief artist of Olovyanishnikov is illustrated in the Olovyanishnikov Sons' Catalogue, Moscow, 1915-1916, p. Cyrillic ‘3G’.