Re: The Bulgarian Gotha

There is nothing like a Bulgarian Gotha for a very simple reason:
There is no aristocracy in Bulgarija. The Tarnovo Constitution
from 1879 established this rule:
"Òèòëè çà áëàãîðîäñòâî è çà äðóãè îòëè÷èÿ, ñúùî è îðäåíè íå
ìîãàò äà ñúùåñòâóâàò â Áúëãàðñêîòî êíÿæåñòâî."
Titles of nobility and other distinctions, as well as decorations,
can not exist in the Bulgarian principality.
(article 57, later renumbered as article 58)
Later amendments of the constitution, allowed both military
and civil decorations, but not nobility.

The former princes and tsars of Bulgarija,
Aleksandar Battenberg, Ferdinand Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha,
Boris III tsar of Bulgarija and the current prime minister,
Simeon Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha are not bulgarian
aristocrats, they are offsprings of european aristocratic families.
None of these ever married a bulgarian citizen.

Catalogs with the names and biographical data of all ancient
rulers of Balgarija are available, two newer ones are:
Éîðäàí Àíäðååâ:
Áúëãàðñêèòå õàíîâå è öàðå VII - XIV âåê
Èñòîðèêî-õðîíîëîãè÷åí ñïðàâî÷íèê
1994 Èçäàòåëñòâî "Ïåòúð Áåðîí"

Éîðäàí Àíäðååâ, Ìèë÷î Ëàëêîâ:
Áúëãàðñêèòå õàíîâå è öàðå îò õàí Êóáðàò
äî öàð Áîðèñ III
1996 Èçäàòåëñòâî ÀÁÀÃÀÐ, Âåëèêî Òúðíîâî

The last medieval tsar of Bulgarija, Ivan Sracimir,
was abduced in 1397 by turkish invaders. This date
marks also the end of independence of Bulgarija for
approximately 500 years and the end of the
medieval bulgarian aristocracy.


A word about knjaz Stefan Bogoridi (1780? - 1859):
Born as Ñòîéêî Öîíêîâ Ñòîéêîâ in Kotel as a
grandson of ïîï Ñòîéêî Âëàäèñëàâîâ,
better known as Ñîôðîíèé Âðà÷àíñêè, Stefan
Bogoridi became one of the most influential
advisors of the turkish sultan Mahmud II. Later
he was also the advisor of sultan Abdul Medjid. In
1833 sultan Mahmud gave him the title of a
Prince of Samos, an island that he governed for
17 years.
Because he was nobled by a turkish sultan,
Stefan Bogoridi should be considered a turkish
aristocrat (of bulgarian origin), not a bulgarian one.
A good short biography of Stefan Bogoridi
can be found in:
Òîí÷î Æå÷åâ:
Áúëãàðñêèÿò Âåëèêäåí èëè ñòðàñòèòå áúëãàðñêè
2000 Èçäàòåëñêà êúùà "Àíóáèñ" Ñîôèÿ
The Bogoridi family is now seemingly extinct.

Other bulgarians of distinction were nobled in
other countries (mostly in Russia), but all
these can not be considered members of a
bulgarian aristocracy.

Even without an aristocracy, there were and
still are influential families in Bulgarija. Names
like Ìîëëîâ, Ãðóåâ, Áóðìîâ, Äàíåâ, ×îìàêîâ
and others come into mind. The fascinating history
of these families - the cultural aristocracy of
Bulgarija - is still not told in a single book, but a
lot of facts can be found in the literature.