Born Fyodor Du on February 11, 1886 in China, Fyodor was a descendent of the Russian cossacks from Albazin who were settled in Beijing in 1685 after the Russian settlement of Albazin was destroyed by the Chinese army. His father was a church reader. He and his family escaped miraculously from the mobs of the Boxer (Yihetuan Movement) Rebellion of 1900. With the arrival of many refugee Christians from Russia in 1919, he was active in publishing Russian textbooks for the schools in Harbin. On September 26, 1950, Bp. Simeon was installed as Bishop of Shanghai. Bp. Simeon reposed on March 3, 1965.