Alexander Piskounov lives at the crossroads of language, teaching, and faith. Trained as an English and French translator at Minsk Linguistic University, he later earned a master’s in public policy from Duke University (USA). He is married and has six children.
For more than 30 years, he has worked as a teacher and translator. At Belarusian State University, he teaches English as a Foreign Language and translation theory and practice, and leads a research seminar in international law.
Beyond academia, Alexander translates Christian books into English, helping bring the writings of modern Orthodox spiritual fathers to a wider audience. His published translations include works by St Nicholas of Serbia and Elder John Krestyankin. He is glad to share what he has been given—through both translation and original writing.
His faith journey was hard-won. Once a committed Marxist and secular humanist, he began to question his certainties after a series of personal experiences that changed his outlook. That path eventually led him to baptism in the Russian Orthodox Church.
For the past five years, St Elisabeth Convent has been his spiritual home. What began as volunteering grew into ongoing service as a translator and writer. Along the way, his spiritual journey has opened up unexpected discoveries of wisdom and God’s love—often made real to him through the everyday kindness of others. He now hopes to share these with others in his writing and translation work. Today, Alexander continues to move between the university and the Church, using words to build understanding—in the classroom and on the page.
