SVISHTOV MERCHANT ENTREPRENEURS AND THEIR NETWORKS ACROSS WALLACHIA AND MOLDAVIA (ROMANIA) DURING THE 19TH CENTURY
SVISHTOV MERCHANT ENTREPRENEURS AND THEIR NETWORKS ACROSS WALLACHIA AND MOLDAVIA (ROMANIA) DURING THE 19TH CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims to shed light on the social/entrepreneurial networks established and maintained by the Bulgarian merchant entrepreneurs from the town of Svishtov in Wallachia and Moldavia (later Romania). Numerous published and unpublished primary sources have been examined. They encompass the period from the 1820s to the 1870s. The unpublished sources are stored in different institutions (Archives, Museums, etc.) both in Bulgaria and in Romania. The Bulgarian entrepreneurs from Svishtov managed to “build” and maintain durable commercial webs in the Bulgarian interior. Some of the networks were local (in the region of Svishtov, Nikopol, Ruse, etc.), while others were broader. Svishtov merchants also expanded their networks in the Danubian Principalities (later Romania). They managed to establish and maintain business and personal contacts with “friends” (mostly Bulgarians, but also Greeks and Romanians) in such settlements as Kronnstadt (Braşov), Bucharest, Zimnicea, Alexandria, Brăila, Galaţi, Craiova, Calafat, etc. Using different kinds of webs, Svishtov entrepreneurs exported large quantities of agricultural and craft items (tobacco, hides, rice, grain, sumac, etc.) to/in the Danubian Principalities (Romania). On the other hand, they imported valuable goods (colonial goods, salt, etc.) to the markets on both shores of the Danube River. They also delivered financial resources which stimulated the local (i.e. Bulgarian) economy. They relied on the financial and moral aid of such powerful businessmen as the members of the Stamu family, Evlogi and Hristo Georgievi, Konstantin Chokan and others. Regardless of being grocers, commissioners or wholesalers (and their commercial companies), they used the networks established to run their economic activity, to receive and/or to send letters and/or money, to buy and to sell items. Moreover, they acquired the needed business information through the other participants in the network.

• Details
• Contents