G. Vorob’eva I.

THE GREEK-BULGARIAN CHURCH STRUGGLE IN THE WORKS OF HISTORICAL-SLAVICIST N. A. POPOV

Authors

G. Vorob’eva I.

Keywords:

Greek-Bulgarian church struggle, N.A. Popov, Slavophilism, Slav Philanthropy Committee in Moscow, national identity.

Abstract

In this article the views of the professor of Moscow University Nil Alexandrovich Popov (1833–1891) upon the problem of the Greek-Bulgsrian relations are presented. N.A. Popov was a specialist in Slav history, the author of many works about the history of Southern and Western Slavs in Modern Time. From 1867 till 1978 he was a secretary of the Slav Philanthropy Committee in Moscow – public organization, oriented on the rendering of the financial help to the Slav young people for getting the education, in Russia including. So far as N.A. Popov was acquainted with many figures of Slav world he got contemporary information upon the questions of national and liberate processes on Balkan peninsula and published it. He wrote articles for scientific and political editions, read lections for students, wrote letters to public and state men, expressing concrete pragmatic opinions upon the problems of the forming of national identity, including the Bulgarian one. They become the subject of analysis in our article. The Slavophil activity of N.A. Popov was perceived by his contemporaries as positive. He considered the Greek-Bulgarian church question as national and political. When Bulgarians were called the schismatics by the Constantinople patriarch in 1872, he explained that the creation of Exarchate was the necessary condition of the Bulgarian national Renascence. Distinguishing the national base in policy of state and society, N.A. Popov, being the Russian historian, intensively worked in the intellectual activities, concerning the comprehending of the national interests by Russians. He did not think about them without Slavs.

THE GREEK-BULGARIAN CHURCH STRUGGLE IN THE WORKS OF HISTORICAL-SLAVICIST N. A. POPOV