MARK THE APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST.

Mark is the traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark. His symbol is the Winged Lion.
He founded the Church of Alexandria, and the 1st Alexandrian School of Christian Studies.
It was the 1st school of Christian Theologians and Priests. The teachers and students of the school were influential in many of the early theological controversies of the Christian Church. It is the oldest school in the World.
The earliest recorded dean was Athenagoras (176). He was succeded by Pantaenus (181) that during his leadership the School became an important institution of religious learning, where students were taught by scholars such as  Athenagoras, Clement, Didymus the Blind and the great Origen, who was considered the father of theology and who was also active in the field of commentary and comparative Biblical Studies. Pantaenus was succeeded as head of the school by his student Clement of Alexandria (190). Other notable theologians with a connection to the School include Gregory Thaumaturgus, Heraclas, and Dionysus "the Great." Others, including Jerome and Basil, made trips to the School to interact with the scholars and exchanging ideas directly to them.
The scope of the School was not limited to Theological subjects. Apart from Christian Philosophy and the Bible; Science, Mathematics and Greek & Roman Literature, Logic and the Arts were also taught.
The question-and-answer method of commentary began there, and 15 centuries before Braile, blind students at the School were using Wood-carving Techniques to read and write.
HippoLytus of Rome, a leader of the Church of Rome under Pope ZephyRinus (199-217), and distinguished for his learning and eloquence (Origen, then a young man heard him preach), in "On the Seventy Apostles" distinguishes -Mark the Evangelist (2Tim 4:11), John Mark (Acts12:12, 25; 13:5,13; 15:37), and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10; Phlm 1:24). They all belonged to the 70 Disciples who were sent out by Jesus to saturate Judea with the Gospel (Luke10). However when Jesus explained that "his flesh was real food" and "his blood real drink," many disciples left Him (John 6:44 -6:66) including Mark. He was later restored to Faith by the apostle Peter; he then became Peter's interpreter, wrote the Gospel of Mark, founded the Church of Africa, and became the Bishop of Alexandria.
According to Eusebius of Caesarea [Roman historian, Scholar of the Biblical Canon, Bishop of Caesarea Maritima (314) and Christian polemicist of Greek descent], Herod Agrippa I in his 1st year of reign over the whole Judea (41CE) killed James, son of Zebedee and arrested Peter, planning to kill him after The PassOver. Peter was saved miraculously by angels, and escaped out of the Realm of Herod (Acts 12:1-19). Peter went to Antioch, then through Asia Minor (visiting Churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, mentioned in 1Pet1:1), and arrived in Rome in the 2nd year of Emperor Claudius (42CE). Somewhere on the way, Peter picked up Mark and took him as a travel companion and interpreter. Mark the Evangelist wrote down the Sermons of Peter, thus composing the Gospel according to Mark, before he left for Alexandria in the 3rd year of Claudius.
In 49CE, about 19 years after the Ascension of Jesus, Mark traveled to Alexandria (Acts15:36-41) and founded the Church of Alexandria. Today, both the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria claim to be successors to this original community. Mark became the the 1st Bishop of Alexandria. Mark was succeded by Annianus in the 8th year of Nero (62/63) due to his coming death. Later Coptic tradition says that Mark was martyred in 68 CE.
According to Coptic tradition, Mark was born in Cyrene, a city in the Pentapolis of North Africa (now Libya). Mark returned to Pentapolis later in life, after being sent by Paul to Colossae (Col.4:10; Phil24) and serving with him in Rome (2Tim 4:11); from Pentapolis he made his way to Alexandria. When Mark returned to Alexandria, the enemies to Christianity living in the city resented his efforts to turn the Alexandrians away from the worship of their traditional gods. In 68 CE, they placed a rope around his neck and dragged him through the streets until he was dead.