Bulgarians in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

( bg, Българи във Франция, french: Bulgares en France), are one of the immigrant communities of the Bulgarian diaspora. Over 34,000

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...

live in France, with the main concentration in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. They form one of the oldest communities of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

History

It is thought that invidivual groups of Bulgars reached modern France in the Migration Period (5th–6th century). In the 12th and 13th centuries, Bulgarian heretics came to France spreading the ideas of

Bogomilism Bogomilism ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic or dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar P ...

, which provided much of the theological basis of Catharism. The Cathars or Albigensians were also known as '' bougres'', pointing to the Bulgarian origin of the sect."Cathari"
by N.A. Weber.

The Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

, 1908. It was not until the mid-19th century that contacts between France and the Bulgarian lands were intensified. France was an attractive centre for Bulgarian students abroad even before the

Liberation of Bulgaria The Liberation of Bulgaria is the historical process as a result of the Bulgarian Revival. In Bulgarian historiography, the liberation of Bulgaria refers to those events of the Tenth Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) that led to the re-establishme ...

in 1878. Bulgarian public figure Nikola Pikolo spent the years from 1840 to his death in 1865 in Paris.

Petar Beron Dr. Petar Beron ( bg, Петър Берон) (c. 1799, Kotel – 21 March 1871) was a Bulgarian educator. He created the first modern Bulgarian primer, known as the '' Fish Primer'' (Рибен буквар, ''Riben bukvar'') due to a dolphin ...

, another Bulgarian enlightener, was also active in Paris in the 1850s and 1860s. From 1879 on, France was the favoured destination for Bulgarians seeking higher education abroad, with particular domination in the fields of pharmacy and

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

. In 1926–1927, for example, of the 1,247 Bulgarians studying abroad, 537 were based in France; of those, 172 studied medicine. Germany took the place of France in the 1930s in terms of higher education. Despite the sizable distance between France and the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, there are reports of Bulgarian

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner supplem ...

s around

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

as early as 1870. Gardeners were the leading force of Bulgarian economic emigration. In 1930, there were 326 Bulgarian gardeners in France. It is estimated that the entire Bulgarian community in France numbered some 1,000–2,000 in 1945. Historian Yordan Kolev estimates the number of Bulgarians permanently residing in France as of 2000 as 9,500. According to the same scholar, another group of over 20,000 Bulgarians are temporarily residing, studying and working in France.

Notable people

File:Vartan-Quaisse0847.jpg,

Sylvie Vartan Sylvie Vartan (; born Sylvie Georges Vartanian; hy, Սիլվի Ժորժ Վարդանյան. on 15 August 1944) is an Armenian-Bulgarian-French singer and actress. She is known as one of the most productive and tough-sounding yé-yé artists. ...

File:André the Giant in the late '80s.jpg,

André the Giant André René Roussimoff (; 19 May 1946 – 28 January 1993), better known by his ring name André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. Roussimoff was known for his great size, which was a result of gigantism caused by excess ...

File:Christo and Jeanne-Claude crop.jpg,

Christo Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks and ...

File:Tzvetan Todorov-Strasbourg 2011 (1).jpg,

Tzvetan Todorov Tzvetan Todorov (; ; bg, Цветан Тодоров; 1 March 1939 – 7 February 2017) was a Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist. He was the author of many books and essays, whi ...

Albert Aftalion Albert Abram Aftalion (October 21, 1874, Rusçuk, Ottoman Empire – December 6, 1956, Geneva, Switzerland) was a French economist. He taught at the Paris University (1925–1939). He co-founded the academic journal '' Revue économique'' in 195 ...

(1874–1956), economist of Bulgarian Jewish descent * Alexandre Coeff (b. 1992), football defender * Arnaud Anastassowa (b. 1988), football defender *

(1946–1993), professional wrestler and actor from the WWF *

Artine Artinian Artine Artinian (December 8, 1907 – November 19, 2005) was a distinguished French literature scholar of Armenian descent, notable for his valuable collection of French literary manuscripts and artwork. He was immortalized as a fictional characte ...

(1907–2005), literature scholar of Bulgarian Armenian descent * Christo Javacheff (b. 1935), worldwide famous artist who creates spatial art installations *

Raphaël Bassan Raphaël Bassan (born 1948) is a French film critic and journalist, who has specialized in experimental film and the history of cinema. He has also made three short movies. Biography Bassan was born in Burgas, Bulgaria, of French nationality, ...

(b. 1948), film critic and journalist *

David Hallyday David Hallyday (born David Michael Benjamin Smet; 14 August 1966) is a French singer, songwriter and amateur sports car racer. Early life Hallyday was born in Boulogne-Billancourt and is the son of the French singers Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie ...

(b. 1966), singer/songwriter and amateur sports car racer. *

Maria Koleva Maria Koleva ( Bulgarian: ''Мария Колева'', born 2 October 1940) is a Bulgarian writer and independent film-maker who lives and works in France. Koleva is also credited as a producer, film-editor and cinematographer. Life and career ...

(b. 1940), filmmaker * Julia Kristeva (b. 1941), philosopher, literary critic, psychoanalyst, sociologist, feminist and novelist * George Papazov (1894–1972), painter *

Jules Pascin Julius Mordecai Pincas (March 31, 1885 – June 5, 1930), known as Pascin (; erroneously or ), Jules Pascin, or the "Prince of Montparnasse", was a Bulgarian artist known for his paintings and drawings. He later became an American citizen ...

(1885–1930), painter *

(b. 1939–2017), philosopher *

Andrei Nakov Andrei, Andrey or Andrej (in Cyrillic script: Андрэй , Андрей or Андреј) is a form of Andreas/ Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk (–1399), Lithuanian nobleman *An ...

(b. 1941), art historian *

Michael Vartan Michael S. Vartan (born November 27, 1968) is a French-American actor, known for his role as Michael Vaughn on the ABC television action drama ''Alias'', his role on the TNT medical drama '' Hawthorne'', and his role on the '' E!'' drama '' The A ...

(b. 1968), film and television actor *

(b. 1944), pop singer of

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

- Hungarian descent *

Nikolay Nenovsky Nikolay Nenovsky (born 26 July 1963) is a Bulgarian economist, working in the fields of monetary theory and policy, monetary history and history of economic thought. He is Professor of economics at the University of Picardie Jules Verne, LEFM ...

(b. 1963), economist

References

{{Portal bar, Bulgaria, France European diaspora in France

Immigration to France by country of origin

History

Notable people

See also

References