Armenians in Bulgaria

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Armenians in Bulgaria
Total population
6,552 (2011), estimation up to 80,000
Regions with significant populations
(Minority) Eastern Armenian, Russian
Related ethnic groups
Armenian diaspora

All figures from [1]

Medieval
times until the present.

The main centres of the Armenian community in the country are the major cities Plovdiv (3,140 Armenians in Plovdiv Province in 2001), Varna (2,240 in Varna Province), Sofia (1,672) and Burgas (904 in Burgas Province).

The traditional language of the community is Western Armenian, though since education during the Communist period in Bulgaria was in Eastern Armenian, many are also fluent in the latter dialect. Bulgarian, being the official language, is spoken fluently by almost all Armenians in the country.

History

The Armenians that settled between the 6th and the 11th century in the

Byzantine emperor of Armenian origin, Romanos I Lekapenos. Another Byzantine emperor—Basil I, the founder of the Macedonian dynasty and an Armenian from Thrace—spent his early years as a captive in the First Bulgarian Empire
in the 9th century.

After both Bulgaria and

Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, many Armenians fled the Ottoman Empire because of the Hamidian massacres in the 1890s and settled in the country, particularly in the major cities of Plovdiv and Varna. In 1878, there were 5,300 Armenians in the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia, and this number increased by almost 20,000 after the Hamidian massacres.[4]

At the time of the

Andranik Ozanian participated in the Balkan Wars in the Bulgarian army, alongside general Garegin Nzhdeh (another national hero) as a commander of Armenian auxiliary troops. Bulgarian authorities honored Andranik and Nzhdeh with the Order of Bravery.[5]
Despite Bulgaria allied with the Ottomans at the World War I, Bulgaria had criticized the Ottomans for the Armenian genocide. After the events surrounding the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire (1915–1917) 22,000 additional Armenians sought refuge in Bulgaria during the government of Aleksandar Stamboliyski in 1922.[4]

According to the archives, it was difficult for Armenians to obtain Bulgarian citizenship. For many years they lived with Nansen passports. However, these passports didn't give them full civil rights. This practice ended only in 1937–1942 for the Armenian men, and for the Armenian women – after 1944. However, some Armenians remained with Nansen passports, although they were a minority.[6]

During the Communist rule of Bulgaria (1944–1989) and the time of the

Armenian SSR, but many chose to stay in Bulgaria or emigrate to other countries such as the United States.[4] In the 1960s, several thousand Bulgarian Armenians succeeded to emigrate from the People's Republic of Bulgaria, despite the communist regime's severe restrictions on any travel outside the country. This emigrant wave remains little known, as the regime censored this successful emigration beyond the Iron Curtain. The emigration between 1962 and 1969 was an anomaly against the background of the realities in Communist Bulgaria. The emigration included various phases, with the authorities allowing it at times, albeit reluctantly. The emigration was banned twice, and the departures were finally stopped in 1969, both because of the threat of mass exodus of most Armenians from Bulgaria, and because of the risk of a negative propaganda effect in the country and abroad.[7]

In the 1990s, after the

dissolution of the USSR, the poor economic conditions in Armenia and the military conflicts in the Caucasus
caused a number of Armenians to seek a better future in Bulgaria as emigrants or travel through Bulgaria to western Europe or the United States. Since the 1990s the population of Armenians in Bulgaria has continually decreased due to immigration and assimilation.

Many comparisons can be drawn between the struggles for freedom of Bulgaria and Armenia, chiefly based on the similarities between the Bulgarian and Armenian peasants.[8][9]

Culture, religion and media

Armenian Apostolic church in Burgas, Bulgaria
Armenian Apostolic church St. George in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

The Armenians and their historical faith were an inspiration for noted Bulgarian poet Peyo Yavorov to write one of his most recognizable works, the poem Armentsi (Armenians), describing the Armenians as 'forlorn exiles, a miserable fragment; of an ever-brave martyr-people; little children of a troubled slavewoman-mother; and victims of a legendarily great feat':

Изгнаници клети, отломка нищожна

от винаги храбър народ мъченик,
дечица на майка робиня тревожна
и жертви на подвиг чутовно велик –
далеч от родина, в край чужди събрани,
изпити и бледни, в порутен бордей,
те пият, а тънат сърцата им в рани,

и пеят, тъй както през сълзи се пей.

Armenians, wretched exiles, tiny splinter

Of their ever valiant, long-suffering kin,
Of restless slave mother tough breed, in the winter –
The victims of their great exploit – or their sin –
From their homeland banished, in foreign land scattered,
Exhausted and pale, in a gloomy saloon,
Now drinking, as their hearts are bleeding, in tatters,
Now singing, through tears, the ballad of doom.

(Translated by V.H., 2013)

Three Armenian newspapers are published in Bulgaria: Armentsi issued in Burgas every fortnight with a circulation of 3,500; the weekly Vahan issued in Plovdiv with a circulation of 1,000; and the weekly Erevan issued in Sofia.[3] The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) publishes a monthly bulletin Parekordzagani Tsayn.

There are a total of ten

Armenian Apostolic churches and two chapels in twelve cities, mostly in those urban centres with a significant Armenian population: Aytos, Burgas, Pazardzhik, Russe, Shumen, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Varna and Yambol. All churches are under an eparchy based in Sofia.[3] The Armenian Evangelical Church in Bulgaria is located in Plovdiv
.

Notable Bulgarian Armenians

Partially Armenian Bulgarians

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ "01.03.2001 TO POPULATION BY DISTRICT AND ETHNIC GROUP". Sofia: REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA. NATIONAL STATISTICAL INSTITUTE. 2001. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  2. ^ "Население по местоживеене, възраст и етническа група" (in Bulgarian). National Statistical Institute. 2011. Archived from the original on 2 June 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-13.
  3. ^ a b c "Website of the Armenian community in Bulgaria" (in Bulgarian). Archived from the original on 2010-11-19. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
  4. ^ a b c d "Armenians" (in Bulgarian). OMDA.bg. Archived from the original on 21 July 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-10.
  5. ^ (in Russian) Андраник Озанян: Документы и материалы, Ереван, 1991.
  6. ^ Nazarska, Georgeta. "Културното многообразие на България: социодемографско проучване на арменската колония в Стара Загора (20-60-те години на ХХ в.)". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. .
  8. ^ N. and H. Buxton (1914). Travels and Politics in Armenia. London. pp. 31–32.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ Philips Price, Morgan (1918). War and Revolution in Asiatic Russia. London: Allen and Unwin. p. 31.

References

External links