Vera the Silent

Recluse Vera the Silent
Born	unknown
Died	30 May 1861 Syrkov monastery, Veliky Novgorod, Rusia
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church

Vera the Silent (? - 6 [18] May 1861) was an Orthodox ascetic, a hermit of the Syrkov Maiden Monastery in the Novgorod region, who kept a vow of silence for 23 years.

Vera the Silent owes her fame to a legend in which she is identified with Empress Elizabeth Alexeevna —Alexander I's wife— who allegedly followed his example after the emperor, having faked his death, became a Siberian elder Feodor Kuzmich.