Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki
Encyclopedia
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n high school in Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
. One of the most influential Bulgarian educational centres in Macedonia and Southern Thrace, it was founded in autumn 1880 in Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Thessaloniki (today in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
) and existed until 1913.
Foundation
The first Bulgarian languageBulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
school in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
was founded in 1871 next to the church of Agios Athanasios. Following the April Uprising of 1876, the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the Kresna-Razlog Uprising and other events, the Bulgarian educational cause in Macedonia had to live through a number of blows. Exploiting anti-Bulgarian sentiment among government officials, Greek bishops succeeded in shutting down a lot of Bulgarian schools and in re-introducing the Greek language to Bulgarian churches in the region. As a result, part of the Bulgarian intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
emigrated to the Principality of Bulgaria
Principality of Bulgaria
The Principality of Bulgaria was a self-governing entity created as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. The preliminary treaty of San Stefano between the Russian Empire and the Porte , on March 3, had originally proposed a significantly larger Bulgarian territory: its...
and the province of Eastern Rumelia
Eastern Rumelia
Eastern Rumelia or Eastern Roumelia was an administratively autonomous province in the Ottoman Empire and Principality of Bulgaria from 1878 to 1908. It was under full Bulgarian control from 1885 on, when it willingly united with the tributary Principality of Bulgaria after a bloodless revolution...
. They did, however, manage to continue their work, supported by local municipalities, the Bulgarian Exarchate, and the newly-created Bulgarian state. The situation in Thessaloniki remained relatively calm, given the hard situation elsewhere. The presence of foreign consuls and representations was putting some limitations on the Turkish regime. This fact is asserted by some scholars as the main reason behind the opening of a Bulgarian secondary school in Macedonia resembling the ones in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
and Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
.
In 1880 the Ottoman Empire adopted an Act on Vilaets which limited Greek bishops’ control over Bulgarian churches. Taking advantage of these developments, revivalist Kuzman Shapkarev
Kuzman Shapkarev
Kuzman Anastasov Shapkarev, , was a Bulgarian folklorist, ethnographer and scientist from Macedonia, author of textbooks and ethnographic studies and a significant figure of the Bulgarian National Revival. He is considered an ethnic Macedonian in the Republic of Macedonia.- Biography :Kuzman...
prepared a whole plan for Bulgarian education in Macedonia, centred around the region’s capital – Thessaloniki. The city ought to host one men’s and one girls’ gymnasium with boarding schools attached to each. Prior to their opening, there was a total of 667 Bulgarian basic schools in Macedonia with 949 teachers and 36,623 students.
The main obstacle before Shapkarev’s plan was the Exarchate’s objection to Thessaloniki hosting the gymnasiums. Dragan Tsankov
Dragan Tsankov
Dragan Kiriakov Tsankov was a Bulgarian politician and the first Liberal Party Prime Minister of the country....
, who favored the idea in principle, proposed another town situated in Central Macedonia and inhabited by a purely Bulgarian population to host the schools.
Despite these differences, the Exarchate backed up the initiative and the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki officially opened doors in the autumn of 1880 with the support of the local Bulgarian community and the Exarchate.
Further development
The high school began holding classes in 1880 in a building in the same neighborhood. In 1910, the school had eight classrooms, twelve teachers, and 133 students. Following 1913, the high school was moved to the Bulgarian town of Gorna Dzhumaya (modern BlagoevgradBlagoevgrad
Blagoevgrad is а city in southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Province, with a population of about 74,302 . It lies on the banks of the Blagoevgradska Bistritsa River....
) in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, where it exists today as "Sts. Cyril and Methodius National Humanitarian High School".
Among the initiators, principals and teachers at the high school were noted Bulgarian intellectuals, scientists, and public figures such as Kuzman Shapkarev
Kuzman Shapkarev
Kuzman Anastasov Shapkarev, , was a Bulgarian folklorist, ethnographer and scientist from Macedonia, author of textbooks and ethnographic studies and a significant figure of the Bulgarian National Revival. He is considered an ethnic Macedonian in the Republic of Macedonia.- Biography :Kuzman...
, Vasil Kanchov
Vasil Kanchov
Vasil Kanchov was a Bulgarian geographer, ethnographer and politician.- Biography :Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school in Lom, Bulgaria, he entered the University of Harkov, then in Russia. During the Serbo-Bulgarian War 1885 he suspended his education and took part...
, Grigor Parlichev
Grigor Parlichev
Grigor Stavrev Parlichev was a Bulgarian writer and translator. He was born January 18, 1830 in Ohrid, Ottoman Empire and died in the same town January 25, 1893...
, and Konstantin Velichkov
Konstantin Velichkov
Konstantin Velichkov was a Bulgarian writer and public figure.-Biography:He was born in the town of Pazardzhik....
. The school's graduates include Gotse Delchev
Gotse Delchev
Georgi Nikolov Delchev was an important revolutionary figure in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia and Thrace at the turn of the 20th century...
, Dame Gruev
Dame Gruev
Damyan Yovanov Gruev or Damjan Jovanov Gruev, often known by his short name Dame Gruev, was an insurgent leader in Ottoman Macedonia and Thrace...
, Todor Aleksandrov
Todor Aleksandrov
Todor Aleksandrov Poporushov also transliterated as Todor Alexandrov also spelt Alexandroff, was a Bulgarian freedom fighter and member of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees since 1897 and later of the Central Committee of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary...
, Andrey Lyapchev, Ivan Mihaylov
Ivan Mihailov
Ivan Mihailov Gavrilov , was a Bulgarian revolutionary in Ottoman and interwar Macedonia, and leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization after 1924.-Early years:...
, Petar Darvingov
Petar Darvingov
Petar Georgiev Darvingov or Peter Darvingov was a Bulgarian officer, revolutionary and military historian, corresponding member of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences from 1932.-Biography:...
, Anton Ketskarov and other key figures of the Bulgarian revolutionary movement and politics of the early 20th century.
Honour
Solun GlacierSolun Glacier
Solun Glacier is the 9.3 km long and 4 km wide glacier on Pernik Peninsula, Loubet Coast on the west side of Antarctic Peninsula, situated east of Škorpil Glacier and northwest of McCance Glacier...
on Loubet Coast in Graham Land
Graham Land
Graham Land is that portion of the Antarctic Peninsula which lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee and the US Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names, in...
, Antarctica is named "after the Bulgarian High School of Solun (Thessaloniki), a major Bulgarian education centre during the late 19th and early 20th century; presently located in Blagoevgrad, Southwestern Bulgaria".