External links
- Среща и взаимодействие на културите: американското мисионерско семейство Кларк и българската среда XIX-ХХ век. Румен Генов (in Bulgarian).]
- Works by or about James Franklin Clarke Jr. at the Internet Archive
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James Franklin Clarke Jr. | |
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| Born | James Franklin Clarke 1906 |
| Died | 1982 |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Occupation(s) | Professor, scientist, historian |
James Franklin Clarke, Jr. was an American historian who dedicated his life to the study of the history of the activities of American Protestants and their missionaries on the Balkans, and especially contributed to the spreading of Protestantism in Bulgaria. He founded the Academic Studies on Bulgarian history in the United States.
He was born on June 5, 1906, to second-generation American missionaries in Bitola, then part of the Ottoman Empire now in North Macedonia, [1] where his father, William P. Clarke, was a missionary. He was the grandson of James Franklin Clarke Sr., who was one of the first American missionaries among the Bulgarians. During the Balkan Wars and World War I, the William Clarke family lived in Bitola. In 1919, they moved to Thessaloniki. They later moved to Switzerland and then to England, where James received a primary education. The family moved to the United States, where James graduated from high school in Boston. Clarke was said to be "totally submerged in Balkan affairs from his early youth". In 1924, Clarke enrolled at Amherst College in Massachusetts. In 1928, he earned a scholarship to Harvard University, where he received his master's degree. One year later, he began his doctoral thesis on the role of American missionaries in Bulgaria and their impact on the process of the Bulgarian National Revival. From 1931 to 1934, Clarke worked in the Bulgarian archives and libraries, visiting numerous settlements related to his research. In 1946, he was a press and culture attaché at the US Embassy in Sofia. From 1951 to 1954, he was professor of history at Indiana University, where he became the founder and director of the first Institute for Eastern European Studies. From 1954 to 1976, when he retired, he was affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh, one of the centers of Eastern European studies in the United States. After retirement, Clarke was a consultant to Duquesne University.
Clarke, as well as his missionary predecessors who were direct observers of the Balkan historical scene, adhered to the perception of the Bulgarian identity of the Macedonian Slavs. Without denying the right of this population to self-identity, he defined the concept on the "Macedonian language" as a myth, arguing with his American counterpart Horace Lunt. [2] He is the author of a collection of studies on Bulgarian history, called The pen and the sword, edited by Dennis P. Hupchick. [3]
On December 5, 1982, Clarke died at his home in Pittsburgh. [4]
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Damyan Yovanov Gruev was а Bulgarian teacher, revolutionary and insurgent leader in the Ottoman regions of Macedonia and Thrace. He was one of the six founders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. Gruev is seen as a national hero in Bulgaria and North Macedonia but his ethnicity is disputed between both countries.
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Yordan Hadzhikonstantinov - Dzhinot, was a Bulgarian teacher and author, an important figure of the Bulgarian National Revival during the 19th century.
Theodosius of Sinai, was a Bulgarian priest, writer and printer. He founded the first Bulgarian printing-house in Thessaloniki.
Mercia MacDermott was an English writer and historian. She was known for her books on Bulgarian history.
Macedonian studies is an academic discipline within Slavic studies that focuses on the comprehensive study of the Macedonian language, literature, history, and culture. As part of Slavic studies, it falls within the subgroup of South Slavic languages and cultures. Apart from North Macedonia, Macedonian Studies is also taught at universities worldwide, including in Albania, Canada, Poland, the United States, and post-Yugoslav countries. A linguist who studies Macedonian as part of the field is called a Macedonist.
Vasil Kostov Glavinov was a Bulgarian left-wing politician from Ottoman Macedonia, and an activist of the Bulgarian workers' movement.
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The history of Bible translations into Macedonian is connected in its early years with the history of Bible translations into Bulgarian. After the codification of Macedonian in 1945, in 1952 a liturgical edition of the four Gospels was printed as the first official translation into standard Macedonian.
The Eastern South Slavic dialects form the eastern subgroup of the South Slavic languages. They are spoken mostly in Bulgaria and North Macedonia, and adjacent areas in the neighbouring countries. They form the so-called Balkan Slavic linguistic area, which encompasses the southeastern part of the dialect continuum of South Slavic.
Dennis P. Hupchick is Professor of History, Emeritus at Wilkes University, Pennsylvania.
Stemmatografia, known by its full name Stemmatographia sive Armorum Illyricorum delineatio, descriptio et restitutio is a heraldic essay written and illustrated by Pavao Ritter Vitezović, and originally published in 1701.
