DOCSLIB.ORG

Hinduism in Bulgaria a Brief Historical Overview

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Hinduism in Bulgaria a Brief Historical Overview CHAPTER 32 Hinduism in Bulgaria A Brief Historical Overview Milena Dimitrova Bratoeva 1 Introduction This chapter gives a brief introduction and historical overview of the spread and presence of Hinduism in Bulgaria. It begins with some remarks on the at- titude toward India and its cultural heritage during the period of the Bulgarian national revival (1762–1878), when the attention of several prominent Bulgarian intellectuals was attracted to the ancient culture, traditions, and history of India for the first time. The presentation in this part of the chapter is focused mainly on the distinguished Bulgarian national leader, revolutionary, writer, and journalist Georgi Stoykov Rakovski (1821–67) and his views and romantic attitude toward India (Hindustan). Some contemporary historians consider him the first Bulgarian scholar in the field of Indian studies. The second part of the chapter introduces the establishment and develop- ment of the academic study of Indian culture, languages, religions, philoso- phy, and more in Bulgaria. The focus is mainly on the development of Sanskrit studies. The third and fourth parts of the chapter are dedicated to the spread of yoga as well as to the growth of Hindu movements, teachings, and spiritual practices in Bulgaria before and after 1989—the year that marked radical po- litical changes in the country. Considering the social, political, and religious background before and after 1989, the chapter seeks to introduce and analyse the role played by a new type of religiosity and spirituality that was inspired by the religious-ethical values and philosophical ideas of Hindu religious doc- trines. In this regard, it aims to clarify the main reasons for the growing interest in the religious beliefs and practices of Hindu origin in the radically changed religious context of Bulgaria after 1989, as well as to outline the profile of con- temporary Bulgarian adherents. Outside the scope of this chapter, and quite intentionally, is the Indian Hindu community in Bulgaria. The main reason for this is the fact that its num- ber is extremely small—according to the official data of the Indian Embassy in Sofia in 2017, not more than 250 Indians reside in Bulgaria permanently, among them are mainly merchants, businessmen, and in recent years, medi- cal students. The apparent recovery in trade and economic relations between © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004432284_033 878 Bratoeva Bulgaria and India over the last few years favours the trend of an increasing number of Indians permanently residing in Bulgaria, but it is still not sufficient enough to talk about an Indian and Hindu diaspora that is visible in the public space of Bulgaria. 2 Attitudes toward India and Its Cultural Heritage during the Period of the Bulgarian National Revival (1762–1878) It could be argued that India, its ancient culture, and its spiritual heritage at- tracted the attention of Bulgarian intellectuals for the first time during the national revival—a period of national awakening and the integration of the Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule.1 Several Bulgarian intellectuals and revolutionaries of that period were inspired by the romantic hypothesis in- troduced by the European humanities that Asia was the ancient homeland of mankind, and India the ancient home of European civilisation.2 The most prominent proponent of this idea was Georgi Stoykov Rakovski3 (1821–1867), a Bulgarian national leader,4 writer, poet,5 and journalist,6 who combined the actions of a revolutionary with the notions of a nineteenth-century romantic philologist. As stated by Traikov and Mukerjee, he “was the first in Bulgaria to create a consciousness about Hindustan in his country by his dedicated efforts for the 1 Beginning with the publication of Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya (Slavonic Bulgarian his- tory), a crucial historical treatise written in 1762 by Paisii Hilendarski (Paisii of Hilendar), and lasting until the liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, which came after the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). 2 For example, the Bulgarian writers and publicists Konstantin Fotinov (1790–1858), Yordan Hadjikonstantinov-Jinot (1818–82), Petar Beron (1799–1871), etc. 3 Known also as Georgi Sava Rakovski. 4 Rakovski was the creator of the Bulgarian revolutionary movement. In 1861 he wrote his Plan za osvobojdavaneto na Balgariya (Plan for the liberation of Bulgaria), and the next year he organized the First Bulgarian Legion in Serbia, which was ready to cross the border to enter Bulgarian territory in case of a war between Serbia and the Ottoman Empire and to fight for the freedom of that country. But, under pressure from the Ottoman Empire, Serbian authori- ties disbanded the legion. In 1867, Rakovski organized the Second Bulgarian Legion. It was disbanded in 1868. 5 His best-known literary work is the poem Gorski Patnik (Forest wanderer), which is consid- ered to be one of the first Bulgarian poems. 6 As a journalist, Rakovski published a series of reportages, titled Balgarska Dnevnitsa (Bulgarian diary) in 1857. He dedicated some of them to the Indians’ struggle for their na- tional independence: “India must belong to the peoples of India, not to England. Sooner or later this must be so!” (Traikov, V. and G. Mukerjee 1987: 4)..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • HERALDS of the GYMNASTIC CLUBS “YUNAK” up to the BEGINNING of the 20TH CENTURY (Research Note)
    178Activities in Physical Education and Sport 2014, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 178-183 HERALDS OF THE GYMNASTIC CLUBS “YUNAK” UP TO THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY (Research note) Sergei Radoev South-West University “Neofit Rilski” Blagoevgrad Faculty “Public Health and Sport” Department “Sport and Kinezitherapy”, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria Abstract In the present work are revealed the prerequisites and the reasons for the appearance of the gymnastic movement in Bulgaria. The accent is put on the fact that the gymnastic exercises are closely connected with the physical preparation of the revolutionaries in the Balkans and have great significance for the resistance and readiness to fight in the crude conditions of revolutionary life. Underlined is the significance of Vassil Levski for the organization of the “gymnastic groups”. Presented are the historic data about the first gymnastic club “Yunak” in Sofia (1895). By one of the Swiss teachers who came to Bulgaria to teach gymnastics, Bulgaria becomes co-founder of the Olympic Games. Described are the reasons for the unification of the different clubs into Union of the Bulgarian gymnastic clubs “Yunak” in Sofia in 1898. Described are the 1st and the 2nd congresses (1898 – 1900) – Sofia, as well as the 1st national meeting – 1900 in Varna, upbringing its members in love to the Homeland. Keywords: physical education, physical development of students, classes in gymnastics, physical exercises, International Gymnastics Federation, Olympic games INTRODUCTION has been preliminary training on horses – getting on and About the history of the physical education and off static or moving horse which is earlier announced by the gymnastics mainly write: Tsonkov (Цонков) (1968); Flavii Vegetsii.
    [Show full text]
  • Relics of the Bulgarian National Epic
    PAISStt OF HILENDAR: FOUNDER OF THE NATIONAL IDEOLOGY In modern historiography the first centuries of the of the respectful image of Mediaeval Bulgaria. In Sremski Ottoman rule of Bulgarian lands are determined as Late Karlovci, one of the most active literary centres of the Middle Ages. The time from the beginning of the 18th time, Paissi read the book of Dubrovnik Abbot Mavro century to the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War is called Orbini "The Realm of the Slavs" in which he discovered Bulgarian National Revival. If the National Revival period considerable evidence about the Bulgarians' past. for Northern Bulgaria and the Sofia Region continued by In 1762 he completed "Slav-Bulgarian History, about 1878, for Eastern Rumelia it was by 1885 and for the People and the Kings, the Bulgarian Saints and All Macedonia and Adrianople Thrace by 1912-1913. Bulgarian Activities and Events". In 83 hand-written The National Revival in the Bulgarian lands witnessed pages the inspired Hilendar Monk interpreted using considerable economic progress. The Bulgarian were romantic and heightened tone the grandour of increasingly getting rid of their mediaeval restricted out- Mediaeval Bulgaria, the victory of the Bulgarian army look and helplessness and were gradually getting aware over Byzantium, the impressive bravery and manliness of as people, aspiring towards economic and cultural the Bulgarians, the historic mission of the Cyril and progress. Hilendar monk Paissii became a mouthpiece of Methodius brothers and other eloquent facts, worthy to these changes in the national self-awareness. He was be remembers and respected by the successors. Already the first to perceive the beginning of the new time and in the forward this noted Bulgarian appealed with gen- the need of formulating verbally the maturing historical uine sincerity towards his compatriots to love and keep prospects and tasks before the Bulgarian people.
    [Show full text]
  • TANZIMAT in the PROVINCE: NATIONALIST SEDITION (FESAT), BANDITRY (EŞKİYA) and LOCAL COUNCILS in the OTTOMAN SOUTHERN BALKANS (1840S to 1860S)
    TANZIMAT IN THE PROVINCE: NATIONALIST SEDITION (FESAT), BANDITRY (EŞKİYA) AND LOCAL COUNCILS IN THE OTTOMAN SOUTHERN BALKANS (1840s TO 1860s) Dissertation zur Erlangung der Würde einer Doktorin der Philosophie vorgelegt der Philosophisch-Historischen Fakultät der Universität Basel von ANNA VAKALIS aus Thessaloniki, Griechenland Basel, 2019 Buchbinderei Bommer GmbH, Basel Originaldokument gespeichert auf dem Dokumentenserver der Universität Basel edoc.unibas.ch ANNA VAKALIS, ‘TANZIMAT IN THE PROVINCE: NATIONALIST SEDITION (FESAT), BANDITRY (EŞKİYA) AND LOCAL COUNCILS IN THE OTTOMAN SOUTHERN BALKANS (1840s TO 1860s)’ Genehmigt von der Philosophisch-Historischen Fakultät der Universität Basel, auf Antrag von Prof. Dr. Maurus Reinkowski und Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yonca Köksal (Koç University, Istanbul). Basel, den 05/05/2017 Der Dekan Prof. Dr. Thomas Grob 2 ANNA VAKALIS, ‘TANZIMAT IN THE PROVINCE: NATIONALIST SEDITION (FESAT), BANDITRY (EŞKİYA) AND LOCAL COUNCILS IN THE OTTOMAN SOUTHERN BALKANS (1840s TO 1860s)’ TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………..…….…….….7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………...………..………8-9 NOTES ON PLACES……………………………………………………….……..….10 INTRODUCTION -Rethinking the Tanzimat........................................................................................................11-19 -Ottoman Province(s) in the Balkans………………………………..…….………...19-25 -Agency in Ottoman Society................…..............................................................................25-35 CHAPTER 1: THE STATE SETTING THE STAGE: Local Councils
    [Show full text]
  • BULGARIAN REVIVAL INTELLIGENTSIA Natural
    BULGARIAN REVIVAL INTELLIGENTSIA Natural Philosophy System of Dr. Petar Beron Petar Beron was born at year 1800 in the town Kotel, “a miniature of Nuremberg”, in a rich family of handcrafts and merchants. In Kotel he received his primary education at the cell school of Stoiko Vladislavov and Raino Popovich. He went further to Bucharest where he entered the school of Greek educator Konstantin Vardalach. The latter, a famous for his time pedagogue and encyclopedist, had influenced a lot for the formation of Beron as scientist and philosopher. In 1824 Beron is compelled to leave Bucharest, because he participated in a “Greek plot”, and goes to Brashov, another Rumanian town, where he compiled “The Fish Primer”. This book was fundamental for the Reformation in Bulgaria and an achievement for the young scholar. In 1825 Beron enrolled as a student in Heidelberg University, Germany, where he proceeded philosophy until two years later when he transferred to Munich to study medicine. On the 9 July 1831, after successfully defending a doctoral dissertation, Beron was promoted Doctor in Medicine. Dissertation was in Latin and concerned an operation technique in Obstetrics and Gynecology. The young physician worked in Bucharest and Craiova, but after several years of general practice he quit his job and started merchandise. After fifteen years he made a fortune and went to Paris where he lived as a renter. Here he started a real scientific career. His scope was to entail all the human knowledge by that time and to make a natural philosophy evaluation by creating a new “Panepisteme”. His encyclopedic skills were remarkable.
    [Show full text]
  • The Shaping of Bulgarian and Serbian National Identities, 1800S-1900S
    The Shaping of Bulgarian and Serbian National Identities, 1800s-1900s February 2003 Katrin Bozeva-Abazi Department of History McGill University, Montreal A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1 Contents 1. Abstract/Resume 3 2. Note on Transliteration and Spelling of Names 6 3. Acknowledgments 7 4. Introduction 8 How "popular" nationalism was created 5. Chapter One 33 Peasants and intellectuals, 1830-1914 6. Chapter Two 78 The invention of the modern Balkan state: Serbia and Bulgaria, 1830-1914 7. Chapter Three 126 The Church and national indoctrination 8. Chapter Four 171 The national army 8. Chapter Five 219 Education and national indoctrination 9. Conclusions 264 10. Bibliography 273 Abstract The nation-state is now the dominant form of sovereign statehood, however, a century and a half ago the political map of Europe comprised only a handful of sovereign states, very few of them nations in the modern sense. Balkan historiography often tends to minimize the complexity of nation-building, either by referring to the national community as to a monolithic and homogenous unit, or simply by neglecting different social groups whose consciousness varied depending on region, gender and generation. Further, Bulgarian and Serbian historiography pay far more attention to the problem of "how" and "why" certain events have happened than to the emergence of national consciousness of the Balkan peoples as a complex and durable process of mental evolution. This dissertation on the concept of nationality in which most Bulgarians and Serbs were educated and socialized examines how the modern idea of nationhood was disseminated among the ordinary people and it presents the complicated process of national indoctrination carried out by various state institutions.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rise of Bulgarian Nationalism and Russia's Influence Upon It
    University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-2014 The rise of Bulgarian nationalism and Russia's influence upon it. Lin Wenshuang University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Wenshuang, Lin, "The rise of Bulgarian nationalism and Russia's influence upon it." (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1548. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/1548 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE RISE OF BULGARIAN NATIONALISM AND RUSSIA‘S INFLUENCE UPON IT by Lin Wenshuang B. A., Beijing Foreign Studies University, China, 1997 M. A., Beijing Foreign Studies University, China, 2002 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Humanities University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky May 2014 Copyright © 2014 by Lin Wenshuang All Rights Reserved THE RISE OF BULGARIAN NATIONALISM AND RUSSIA‘S INFLUENCE UPON IT by Lin Wenshuang B. A., Beijing Foreign Studies University, China, 1997 M. A., Beijing Foreign Studies University, China, 2002 A Dissertation Approved on April 1, 2014 By the following Dissertation Committee __________________________________ Prof.
    [Show full text]
  • A Christian Printer on Trial in the Tanzimat Council of Selanik, Early 1850S: Kiriakos Darzilovitis and His Seditious Books
    Cihannüma Tarih ve Coğrafya Araştırmaları Dergisi Sayı I/2 – Aralık 2015, 23-38 A CHRISTIAN PRINTER ON TRIAL IN THE TANZIMAT COUNCIL OF SELANIK, EARLY 1850S: KIRIAKOS DARZILOVITIS AND HIS SEDITIOUS BOOKS Anna Vakali* Abstract The present article deals with Kiriakos Darzilovitis, a Greek-educated Slavophone and the second Christian printer of Selanik. This article touches on some of the main points in Kiriakos’s biography, with two main stations: first, his trial by the city’s Tanzimat council because of the seditious books he was accused of printing; and second, the closure of his bookstore some years later, orchestrated by two Orthodox metropolitans and the local Ottoman authorities. The article follows how an ordinary Ottoman subject was consciously able to manoeuvre his way through different lingual, ethnic identities, citizenships, and even legal jurisdictions. More importantly, Kiriakos’s life story sets an example for the limits of such “navigation.” Indeed, the different governing authorities in the late Ottoman world could punish an individual for not fulfilling the expected commitments of each identity he or she asserted. Keywords: printing, Ottoman Balkans, Selanik, sedition 1850’lerin Başında Selanik Tanzimat Meclisinde Bir Hiristiyan Matbaacının Yargılanması: Kiriakos Darzilovitis ve Fesat Kitapları Özet Bu makale Selanik'in ikinci Hristiyan matbaacısı, Yunan eğitimi almış bir Slavofon olan Kiriakos Darzilovitis hakkındadır ve Kiriakos’un hayatındaki bazı önemli dönüm noktalarına temas etmektedir. Bu dönüm noktalarından ilki, şehrin Tanzimat meclisinde zararlı (fesat) kitaplar basmış olması nedeniyle yargılanması; bir diğeri ise, sahip olduğu kitapçı dükkânının bir kaç yıl sonra iki Ortodoks Metropolit ve yerel Osmanlı otoriteleri eliyle kapatılmasıdır. Bu makale bir Osmanlı tebaasının farklı dilsel, etnik kimlikler ve vatandaşlıklar ve de farklı yargı yetki alanları arasında kendine bilinçli bir biçimde nasıl manevra alanları yarattığının izlerini sürmeyi hedeflemektedir.
    [Show full text]
  • History of Modern Bulgarian Literature
    The History ol , v:i IL Illlllf iM %.m:.:A Iiiil,;l|iBif| M283h UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES COLLEGE LIBRARY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation http://archive.org/details/historyofmodernbOOmann Modern Bulgarian Literature The History of Modern Bulgarian Literature by CLARENCE A. MANNING and ROMAN SMAL-STOCKI BOOKMAN ASSOCIATES :: New York Copyright © 1960 by Bookman Associates Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 60-8549 MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY UNITED PRINTING SERVICES, INC. NEW HAVEN, CONN. Foreword This outline of modern Bulgarian literature is the result of an exchange of memories of Bulgaria between the authors some years ago in New York. We both have visited Bulgaria many times, we have had many personal friends among its scholars and statesmen, and we feel a deep sympathy for the tragic plight of this long-suffering Slavic nation with its industrious and hard-working people. We both feel also that it is an injustice to Bulgaria and a loss to American Slavic scholarship that, in spite of the importance of Bulgaria for the Slavic world, so little attention is paid to the country's cultural contributions. This is the more deplorable for American influence in Bulgaria was great, even before World War I. Many Bulgarians were educated in Robert Col- lege in Constantinople and after World War I in the American College in Sofia, one of the institutions supported by the Near East Foundation. Many Bulgarian professors have visited the United States in happier times. So it seems unfair that Ameri- cans and American universities have ignored so completely the development of the Bulgarian genius and culture during the past century.
    [Show full text]
  • Subprogramme „Comenius“ Multilateral, Bilateral and Regional School Partnerships
    Subprogramme „Comenius“ Multilateral, bilateral and regional school partnerships Started projects 2010 Multilateral school partnerships Cultural cocktail Target group: Pupils, teachers, parents. Project Summary: The “Cultural Cocktail” project will promote the deepening of knowledge about the language and spe- cifics will facilitate the understanding of these characteristics, and its main purpose is to create a cultural cocktail, made with love, friendship, peace, so that many people can try it. If this target is achieved, the project can become a good tool to achieve the ideal of brotherhood and understanding among people and peace on earth. Furthermore, we want children to spend their free time in practical activities to develop their interests and skills. We would like to create clubs – such as folk dances, children’s games 1 and humorous characters. Contact information: Subprogramme „Comenius“Subprogramme Started projects 2010 Coordinator: Skola „Ozolnieku viduskola“ OU “P. Volov” Shumen Municipality, Latvia , Ozolnieku LV-3018 Madara village 9971, “Khan Krum” 15, tel.: +359 54 950 091 tel.: +371 630 506 58 e-mail : [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] Partners: Zeshpol Szkoła spetsialnih Kojaali Anadolu Kalkanma pshi rezydentem pomochi spolechney Vakaf Ilkyoretim okulu Poland, Zavadzkie 04274 Turkey, Skaria 54000, tel.: +90 264812 1944 tel.: +48 77 462 0049 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] Agrupamento Vertical de eskolas Grupul Scolari de transporturi auto de Oliveira do Douro Romania, Kraiova 2800001, Portugal, Vila Nova de Gaia 4430-001 tel.: +40 251 427 636 tel.: +351 22 379 48 07 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail : [email protected] Obershule an der Lerchenstrase EB 1/JI ESCO dezembro Aldella Nova, Germany , Bremmen 28078-28199 Portugal, Vila Nova de Gaia 4430-001 tel.: +49 361 792 63 e-mail : [email protected] e-mail : [email protected] Project number: LLP-2010-COM-MP-132 Multilateral school partnerships European Children Celebrate Target group: 3-5 year old children.
    [Show full text]
  • Nominalia of the Bulgarian Rulers an Essay by Ilia Curto Pelle
    Nominalia of the Bulgarian rulers An essay by Ilia Curto Pelle Bulgaria is a country with a rich history, spanning over a millennium and a half. However, most Bulgarians are unaware of their origins. To be honest, the quantity of information involved can be overwhelming, but once someone becomes invested in it, he or she can witness a tale of the rise and fall, steppe khans and Christian emperors, saints and murderers of the three Bulgarian Empires. As delving deep in the history of Bulgaria would take volumes upon volumes of work, in this essay I have tried simply to create a list of all Bulgarian rulers we know about by using different sources. So, let’s get to it. Despite there being many theories for the origin of the Bulgars, the only one that can show a historical document supporting it is the Hunnic one. This document is the Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans, dating back to the 8th or 9th century, which mentions Avitohol/Attila the Hun as the first Bulgarian khan. However, it is not clear when the Bulgars first joined the Hunnic Empire. It is for this reason that all the Hunnic rulers we know about will also be included in this list as khans of the Bulgars. The rulers of the Bulgars and Bulgaria carry the titles of khan, knyaz, emir, elteber, president, and tsar. This list recognizes as rulers those people, who were either crowned as any of the above, were declared as such by the people, despite not having an official coronation, or had any possession of historical Bulgarian lands (in modern day Bulgaria, southern Romania, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, and northern Greece), while being of royal descent or a part of the royal family.
    [Show full text]
  • Georgi Rakovski: the Heroic Image
    Mari A. Firkatian. The Forest Traveler: Georgi Stoikov Rakovski and Bulgarian Nationalism (Balkan Studies). New York: P. Lang, 1996. xiii + 194 pp. $51.95, cloth, ISBN 978-0-8204-2826-0. Reviewed by Lohr Miller Published on HABSBURG (October, 1996) Georgi Stoikov Rakovski (1821-1867) is a worked her way through the multi-volume collec‐ name in Bulgarian history conventionally listed tion of Rakovski's papers produced by the Bulgari‐ along with Vasil Levski, Khristo Botev, and Liuben an Academy of Sciences between 1952 and 1969 Karavelov as a hero of the cause of Bulgarian na‐ as well as numerous memoirs and biographies tional liberation, and Rakovski is often cited by penned by Rakovski's contemporaries and a for‐ Bulgarian historians as the organizer of the frst midable array of secondary sources as well. Given truly "national" movement devoted to winning the breadth of Firkatian's research, one might Bulgarian independence from Ottoman rule as wish that she had more fully sketched in the polit‐ well as a writer who inspired later generations ical and social environment in which Rakovski with nationalist ideals. Yet Rakovski remains in lived and worked. Firkatian presents a strong por‐ many ways an obscure and puzzling fgure. He trait of Rakovski, not just as a political or literary was a military leader whose martial adventures figure but as a man embodying a host of conflict‐ invariably ended in failure, a journalist and ing motives and ideologies: a man whose outlook polemicist behind a series of short-lived periodi‐ was very much the product of the Romantic age cals, a patriot too often pursued not so much by and a deeply Romantic sense of personal heroism, the Turks as by his creditors and angry investors, a man who expected to serve the cause of his na‐ a Bulgarian nationalist whose political allegiances tion for the whole of his life and who yet expected shifted in a bewildering series of pro- and anti- the cause of national liberation to provide him Russian, Serbian, Greek, and even Turkish attach‐ with fame, personal prestige, and wealth--a man ments.
    [Show full text]
  • Bulgaria Archivo C I E M - Madrid
    2012 La Masonería en el mundo – Bulgaria Archivo C I E M - Madrid Documentación - países Adrian Mac Liman Centro Ibérico de Estudios Masónicos (CIEM) 06/06/2012 Bulgaria's Freemasons - from Bogomils to the Failed 21st Century Project Author: Maria Guineva May 28, 2010 Several Bulgarian Freemasons have been interviewed for this story and their opinions are included below. Most, however, spoke only under condition of remaining anonymous. Dimitar Nedkov is considered by many the top expert on Freemasonry in Bulgaria. He was initiated into one of the first Bulgarian Blue Lodges shortly after the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s. He is an active participant in the restoration of Freemasonry in Bulgaria and has served as Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Bulgaria. Nedkov is a Mason 33 Degree (the highest), co-founder of the Supreme Council, 33 of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, former Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons in Bulgaria. An avid Masonic scholar, he is the author of “The Freemasons Returned to Bulgaria” (1998) and “The Third Millennium of Freemasonry” (2000), “The Lessons of Freemasonry (2005). His last book, a fiction - “33 The Menace Dan Brown” appeared on the book stands in December. One of the founders of the Masonic magazine Svetlina (Light) and the web site freemasonry.bg. Nedkov is a member of the International Academy of the Illuminati in Rome The article below is also based on Nedkov’s book “The Freemasons Returned to Bulgaria” and the book “Masonic Lodges in Bulgaria” by Dr.
    [Show full text]