CLEMENTE of SMOLENSK. - A Russian monk, elected in 1149 as metropolitan of Kiev during the absence of the titular holder, the Byzantine Michael, despite having sworn not to proceed with the election without the approval of the Byzantine patriarchate.
When the political situation changed, C. was transferred to the see of Vladimir in Volhynia. He was a learned man, even in Byzantine literature, which he defended in a special letter and studied only from a religious point of view.
Bibl.: A. M. Ammann, Storia della Chiesa russa e dei paesi limitrofi, Torino 1948, pp. 35-38. Alberto M. Ammann