Stojan Tschomakow

Stoyan Ivanov Chomakov (1819 in Koprivshtitsa; † 5 December 1893 in Plovdiv), Bulgarian Стоян Иванов Чомаков, was a Bulgarian physician and politician.

Life

[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten] He was a son of Chorbadzhi Ivan Chomakov and Gruda, née Tschalăkowa (the daughter of the rich and powerful Todor Valko(witsch) Tschalăkow, known as Todor Bey, ca. 1730–1818). The couple had two other sons: Saltscho and Todor.

Stojan Chomakov first attended the Bulgarian monastery school founded by his grandfather in his hometown of Koprivshtitsa. In 1831 he transferred to the Greek Progymnasium in Plovdiv before attending the school run by Theophilos Kairis on the island of Andros. Among his fellow students on Andros were Ivan Dobrovsky, Illarion Makariopolski or Petar and Konstantin Mischaikov. When the school was closed in 1839, Stojan transferred to the Athens Gymnasium. He then studied medicine in Pisa and received his doctorate there. He then worked for a while in Florence to acquire practical medical knowledge. After a while he went to Paris, where he specialized as a surgeon.

After returning to the Ottoman Empire, he was the first practicing physician in the trading city of Plovdiv, the largest city in Thrace and now the family seat, between 1848 and 1860. In addition, he opened the first pharmacy in the city in 1849.

Chomakov was an educated man who spoke several languages and pursued a variety of interests. At the level of church politics, he advocated the Bulgarian revival and fought against the Greek-dominated Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. In 1861, he went to Constantinople as a representative of the Plovdiv diocese, where he lived in the Christian district of Phanar, practiced medicine and advocated for the interests of the Bulgarians in their own church led by them. This goal was achieved in 1870, when the Ottoman Sultan established the Bulgarian Exarchate by means of a firman, which was no longer to be under the patronage of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Constantinople. This was a very important step on the road to the Bulgarian revival.

In 1878, after the liberation of the Bulgarian settlement area during the Russo-Ottoman War, Chomakov returned to Plovdiv. However, as a result of the Berlin Congress, Bulgaria was divided, with the southeastern part returning to the Ottoman Empire, although it was granted autonomy (as the province of Eastern Rumelia, with Plovdiv as its capital). Chomakov now joined the Liberal Party, became a deputy of the Eastern Rumelian People's Assembly, and was also a member of the Permanent Council in 1881–1882.

During the popular uprising of 1885, which sought to achieve unification with the Principality of Bulgaria, the People's Assembly offered him the position of Princely Commissioner for Eastern Rumelia, which he declined and only accepted that of deputy. Sent to Constantinople in September 1885 for negotiations with the government, he and his companions were arrested. However, thanks to his acquaintance with many high-ranking Ottoman government officials, the delegation was soon released.

From 1885 to 1887, Chomakov practiced medicine. He was also the chairman of the city's health council and the chairman of the St. Panteleimon charitable society, which managed the Plovdiv hospital and supported poor, sick citizens.

As a deputy of the All-Bulgarian People's Assembly and the Great People's Assembly, he was appointed Minister of Public Education in Sofia in 1887.

He was a member of the Bulgarian Literary Society, which became the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in 1911.

Between 1858 and 1860, Stoyan Chomakov had a villa built for his family in the old town (Uliza Saborna 18) in the neoclassical style, both inside and out, in the old town of Plovdiv. His guests included not only the first Bulgarian prince Alexander I of the House of Battenberg, but also Prince/Tsar Ferdinand I of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on several occasions. Later subjected to multiple, inappropriate uses, the house now houses an exhibition for the painter Zlatju Bojadschiew (1903–1976).

Stoyan Chomakov was married to a daughter of Dimitraki Haskoiliüt, who died before 1861 and with whom he left two daughters. As a Plovdiv delegate attending the funeral of the former Prince Alexander I on November 26, 1893 in Sofia, he caught such a bad cold that he died a few days later; he was buried in the Church of St. Archangel Michael in Plovdiv.

In honor of the doctor and politician, a street in Plovdiv bears his name: Uliza Stoyan Tschomakow.

Literature

[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten]

Nikola Albadschiew: Plowdiwska Chronika. Plowdiw 1984. S. 22, 40–41 u. a.
Andreas Lyberatos: Men of the sultan: the beglik sheep tax collection system and the rise of a Bulgarian national bourgeoisie in nineteenth-century Plovdiv. in. Turkish Historical Review 1 (2010) S. 55–85, PDF

Weblinks

[Bearbeiten | Quelltext bearbeiten] Commons: Stoyan Tchomakov – Sammlung von Bildern, Videos und Audiodateien

https://www.viamichelin.de/web/Touristische-Attraktion/Plovdiv-4000-Dr_Stojan_Comakov_Haus_Zlatju_Bojadziev_Sammlung-a51z7p1e
https://www.arrivalguides.com/de/Travelguide/PLOVDIV/culture/haus-von-dr-stoyan-chomakov-ausstellung-von-zlatyu-boyadzhiev-94952
https://plovdivguide.com/Figuren-in-Plovdiv/Stoyan-Chomakov-Dr-1819---1893-428-de-DE30322D20-2938-4C97-8B96-D8C1FFBAA322
http://www.visitplovdiv.com/bg/node/477

Individual References