Ivan Shishmanov (; July 4, 1862 – June 22, 1928) was a Bulgarian writer, ethnographer, politician and diplomat. He served as

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

of Bulgaria to the

Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State (), sometimes also called the Second Cossack Hetmanate, Hetmanate (), was an Anti-communism, anti-Bolshevik government that existed on most of the modern territory of Ukraine (except for Western Ukraine) from 29 April to 14 ...

and the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

Biography

Ivan Shishmanov was born on June 22, 1862, in Svishtov in the Shishmanovs family. He studied at the Pedagogical School in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

from 1876 to 1882. He then studied philosophy and literature at

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

in 1884 and spent two years at

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. In 1888, he finished his Ph.D. studies in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

under the direction of Professor

Wilhelm Wundt Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and biology, was t ...

. On December 28, 1888, he married

Lidia Shishmanova Lidia Shishmanova (17 October 1866 – 7 February 1937) was a Ukrainian and Bulgarian writer, journalist, theatre and music critic, translator and social activist. Early life and family Lidia Shishmanova was born Lidia Drahomanova, on 17 Octo ...

, the daughter of

Mykhailo Drahomanov Mykhailo Petrovych Drahomanov (; 18 September 1841 – 2 July 1895) was a Ukrainian intellectual and public figure. As an academic, Drahomanov was an economist, historian, philosopher, and ethnographer, while as a public intellectual he was a ...

. In 1889, their son Dimitr was born, he would become a literary critic and playwright. In 1888 Shishmanov was one of the founders of the High School of Sofia. In 1894 he became Professor of General Literary and Cultural History, and comparative literary history. He was also the founder and editor of Folklore and Ethnography Collection (СбНУНК) from 1889 to 1902 and the magazine from 1893–1900. Shishmanov was a member of the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; , ''Bŭlgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated БАН) is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy, with headquarters in Sofia, is autonomous and consists of a S ...

. He was also one of the founders of the State Drawing School, which later became the

National Academy of Arts The National Academy of Arts () is an institution of higher education in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest and most renowned school of arts in the country. History The National Academy of Arts was founded in 1896 by noted artists and public f ...

(1896). Shishmanov was a member of the

People's Liberal Party The People's Liberal Party (, ''Narodnoliberalna partiya'', NLP) was a political party in Bulgaria. History One of the four factions to emerge from the old Liberal Party, the party was established by Stefan Stambolov in 1886 as the Bulgaria fo ...

, and in 1903 he became Minister of Public Education, but in early 1907 he left office because of disagreement with the government's actions during the . As a minister of education, he opened the school for the blind in 1906. Shishmanov acted as a plenipotentiary representative of Bulgaria in the

during the reign of

Pavlo Skoropadsky Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi (; – 26 April 1945) was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, who served as the hetman of the Ukrainian State throughout 1918 following a coup d'état in April 29 of the same year. Born the son of a n ...

in 1918–1919. King Ferdinand I sent him to

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. He founded and served as the first president of the Bulgarian Department of the Pan-European Union. He donated a portion of his library to the . Shishmanov was a member of the

Macedonian Scientific Institute The Macedonian Scientific Institute (MSI; ) is a Bulgarian scientific organization, which studies the region of Macedonia and mostly the Macedonian Bulgarians. The Institute issues the journal "Macedonian Review". Establishment and activity It wa ...

Куманов, Милен. «Македония. Кратък исторически справочник», София, 1993, стр. 276. He died in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

on June 23, 1928, at the age of 65. His son, Dimitr Shishmanov, writer and politician, was executed by the People's Court due to his work as the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Creative heritage

In his research, he used a positivist methodology. He wrote works in the field of folk art and literature of

national revival National revival or national awakening is a period of ethnic self-consciousness that often precedes a political movement for national liberation but that can take place at a time when independence is politically unrealistic. In the history of Euro ...

, as well as comparative works on European literature of the XVIII century and journalistic articles. He wrote works on

ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

and

literary science Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, th ...

. An expert on

Ukrainian literature The term Ukrainian literature () is normally used to describe works of literature written in the Ukrainian language. In a broader sense it can also relate to all literary works created in the territory of Ukraine. Ukrainian literature mostly de ...

, in particular the works of

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...

, he investigated the influence of Shevchenko's poetry on Bulgarian revival, having written the work "The role of Ukraine in the Bulgarian revival. The Influence of Shevchenko on Bulgarian Poets before the Liberation Age" (1916). The initiator and founder of the Bulgarian-Ukrainian Society (1920).

Shevchenko Scientific Society The Shevchenko Scientific Society (), founded in 1873, is a Ukrainian scientific society devoted to the promotion of scholarly research and publication. Unlike the government-funded National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the society is a pu ...

member.

Bibliography

Славянски селища в Крит и на другите гръцки острови. — Български преглед, 1897, кн. 3
* Наченки на руското влияние в българската книжнина. С., 1899. * Критичен преглед на въпроса за произхода на прабългарите от езиково гледище и етимологиите на името «българин». — СбНУНК, XVI—XVII, 1900. * Тарас Шевченко — неговото творчество и неговото влияние върху българските писатели преди Освобождението. С., 1914. * Избрани съчинения в три тома. С., 1965—1971 * Дневник 1879—1927 г. С., 2003.

References

Literature

* ''Головченко В. І''. Шишманов Іван Димитров // Українська дипломатична енциклопедія : у 2 т. / Л. В. Губерський (голова). — К. : Знання України, 2004. — Т. 2 : М — Я. — 812 с. — . * Енциклопедія українознавства : Словникова частина : � 11 т.nbsp;/ Наукове товариство імені Шевченка ; гол. ред. проф., д-р Володимир Кубійович. — Париж ; Нью-Йорк : Молоде життя ; Львів ; Київ : Глобус, 1955–2003. Словникова частина. — Т. 10. * ''Матяш І.'' Роль дипломатичних установ у започаткуванні українсько-болгарських міждержавних відносин (1918—1921 рр.) // Український історичний журнал. — 2018. — No. 2 (539) (березень—квітень). — С. 53–73. * ''Павленко В.'
Іван Шишманов — повноважний посол Болгарії в Україні
// Міжнародні зв'язки України: наукові пошуки і знахідки. — К., 2010. — Т. 19. — С. 59–70. * Шевченківський словник — С. 389. * ''Гечева Кр.'' Иван Д. Шишманов. Биобиблиография. — С., 2003. * Иван Д. Шишманов — ученият и гражданинът. Шишманови четения. Кн. 2. С., 2007. * Иван Д. Шишманов — наука и политика. Шишманови четения. Кн. 3. С., 2008. * Стойчева, Т. Филологът в помощ на министъра: програма на Иван Шишманов за българската култура. — В: Езици и култури в диалог: Традиции, приемственост, новаторство. Конференция, посветена на 120-годишната история на преподаването на класически и нови филологии в Софийския университет «Св. Климент Охридски». С., УИ, 2010, * Конева, Р. Европейският и паневропейският културен оптимизъм на Иван Шишманов.- Балканистичен форум, кн./1-2-3, 2009, 288–307, * Конева, Р. Иван Шишманов и Обединена Европа. С., 2011, ИК Гутенберг, 236 с {{DEFAULTSORT:Shishmanov, Ivan Diplomats from Sofia Ambassadors of Bulgaria to Ukraine Bulgarian ethnographers Bulgarian folklorists Academic staff of Sofia University 1862 births 1928 deaths People from Svishtov People from the Ottoman Empire Expatriates in Austria-Hungary