Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh (born Andrey Borisovich Bloom) was born on June 19, 1914, in Lausanne. His father and his grandfather on his mother's side belonged to the diplomatic service of Imperial Russia. The ancestors of his father came from Scotland and settled in Russia during the reign of Peter the Great.

His mother was a half-sister of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. Andrey spent the early years of his childhood in Persia, where his father was Consul. After the Russian Revolution (1917), the family emigrated, and after several years of wandering throughout Europe, they settled in Paris.

The life of Russian refugees was harsh and impoverished, but the new generation was raised with a strong nostalgia for the lost homeland, and with the hope that one day it would be possible to return there and serve it. Andrey grew up without any religious upbringing, but one day he had to attend a talk given by a Russian theologian for teenagers.

The speaker, although a great man, did not know how to address this particular audience. Nevertheless, in Andrey's heart, the desire to read the Gospel was born. The reading of the Gospel of Mark was revealing for his entire subsequent life.