LEONIDAS, saint, martyr. — He is commemorated on 22 April, but it is not established that this was the true dies natalis. The few details of his life are reported by Eusebius. He was the father of Origen, whose education he undertook, teaching him Greek letters and having him instructed principally in Sacred Scripture, many passages of which he made him learn by heart. During the persecution of Septimius Severus, L. was arrested in Alexandria and confined in prison. The young Origen then wrote him a letter, exhorting him to martyrdom and imploring him not to worry about his family. He was beheaded in 202, and his possessions were confiscated.
BIBL.: Eusebius, Hist. ecl., VI, 1 ff.; Martyr. Romanum, p. 151. Agostino Amore