The Russian Diaspora in Bulgaria: Issues of Migration Registration in the Interwar Period

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2020.1.462

Keywords:

Russian emigration in Bulgaria; refugees; Russia abroad; population census; Ts. Keseva; D. Daskalov; M. Jovanovic; P. Peykovska

Abstract

This article is a historiographical review of the recent Bulgarian historical literature regarding estimates of the number of Russian emigrants in Bulgaria between the 1920s and 1930s. Figures mentioned by contemporary researchers D. Daskalov, L. Spasov, Ts. Keseva, M. Jovanovic, and P. Peykovska estimate that there were from 20,000 to 50,000 Russian migrants in Bulgaria in 1922–1923. In order to explain this discrepancy, the authors of the article analyse different types of sources, i. e. official reports of the Bulgarian authorities, reports of the Office for Russian Refugees under the League of Nations, émigré periodicals, statistical yearbooks, and censuses. Due to the lack of registration of Russian refugees arriving in the country and the interest of different parties in exaggerating the magnitude of the process, working with statistics and censuses seems to be the most promising approach in the study of migration not only in Bulgaria but also in any other country with a Russian diaspora. According to the authors of this brief review, this approach to the analysis of population movement will help correct the thesis of the multi-million Russian diaspora of the interwar period, which is established both in Russian and foreign historiography.

Author Biographies

Valentin Khrisanfov

Dr. Hab. (History), Professor, St Petersburg State University.

7/9, Universitetskaya Embankment, 199034, St Petersburg, Russia.

ORCID 0000-0002-4214-282X

kistreg@mail.ru

Natalia Turygina

PhD (History), Senior Researcher, St Petersburg State University.

7/9, Universitetskaya Embankment, 199034, St Petersburg, Russia.

ORCID 0000-0003-0332-0096

turyginan@mail.ru

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Published

2020-04-01

How to Cite

Khrisanfov, V., & Turygina, N. (2020). The Russian Diaspora in Bulgaria: Issues of Migration Registration in the Interwar Period. Quaestio Rossica, 8(1), 283–294. https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2020.1.462

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Section

Disputatio