Yohannan VIII Hormizd
According to his autobiography, Yohannan Hormizd was born in 1760 in Alqosh to an Assyrian family. His father, the deacon Hanna (Yohannan), was the brother of the Mosul patriarch Eliya XII Denha (1722–78).
Hormizd, the Martyr
Hormizd lived in a time where the Persian kings systematically persecuted Christians . According to Theodoret, it was not easy to express in words how the Christians were put to death. Nevertheless, these cruelties did not discourage the Christians from retaining their faith. Hormizd grew up in such a context in which he inculcated a spirit of martyrdom. According to Christelle Jullien, some martyrdoms during the reign of Bahram V, are known from literary traditions, "like that of Hormozd, Šahin, Persian notables, and Benjamin the deacon, whose story was reported by Theodoret (Eccl. Hist. V.39, 12-24; cf. Michael the Syrian, Chronicle VIII, 4, 15; 17) also preserved in an Armenian document (BHO 7; Peeters, 1909, pp. 399-415."