Atanasije (scribe)

Atanasije (Serbian Cyrillic: Атанасије; c. 1200–1265), a disciple of Saint Sava, was a Serbian monk-scribe who lived and worked in Serbia in the Middle Ages. In the 13th century it was common for monk-scribes not to speak or write about themselves, always cognisant of the fact that their station in life was modest, focussing on the activities of their lords. It is not surprising that very little is known about him. His hymn to St. Sava, however, has been preserved in Domentijan's biography of St. Sava in the part describing the return of St. Sava's relics from Trnovo, Bulgaria, to the Mileševa monastery in Raška. On that occasion, according to Domentijan, the monk-scribe Atanasije wrote and read the "Eulogy to Saint Sava".