“Valiant Shepherd”: Anfim I the Exarch as Active Defender of Oppressed Bulgarians before Ottoman Government (Second Half of 1870s)

• Published in: Nauc̆nyj dialog (Online) no. 6; pp. 260 - 274
• Main Author: Bondareva, V. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: Tsentr nauchnykh i obrazovatelnykh proektov 01.01.2019
• Subjects: anfim i the exarch; bulgarian exarchate; bulgarian national question; bulgarians’ treatment towards russia; diplomatic mission of bulgarians in europe; patriotic activities
• ISSN: 2225-756X; 2227-1295
• DOI: 10.24224/2227-1295-2019-6-260-274

The article analyzes the historical role and characteristic features of the patriotic activity of the first Bulgarian Exarch Anfim I in the second half of the 1870s, during the period of mass persecution of the Bulgarians by the Ottoman authorities after the suppression of the April uprising of 1876. The author presents Anfim I as a person deeply interested in the liberation of the Bulgarians from the Ottoman oppression and in their unification, who actively carried out spiritual and ideological activities, in particular, related to the dissemination of patriotic ideas. It is concluded that the patriotic activity of the Bulgarian high priest was the most important structural link of the national liberation movement of the Bulgarians, one of the key factors of socialization of the Bulgarian people, contributing to the formation of their socio-cultural and political consciousness, encouraging patriotic activity and national unity. The author singles out the following directions of patriotic activities of Anfim I the Exarch: material support for Bulgarians’ uprisings against the Ottoman rule; organization of collecting the information and conducting investigations related to punitive shares of the Turkish authorities; petition of Bulgaria to the Ottoman government; organization of treatments towards Russia and the world community in the promotion of the Bulgarian interests; participation in the organizational work on the improvement of the newborn Bulgarian state; organization of collecting signatures against the decisions of the Berlin Congress, dismembered Greater San Stefano Bulgaria. The Pro-Russian orientation of the patriotic activity of Anfim I the Exarch is presented in the article as its key feature.