American Missionary/Journalist Reuben Markham’s Response to Bulgaria’s 1923 Coup and Its Aftermath
American Missionary/Journalist Reuben Markham’s Response to Bulgaria’s 1923 Coup and Its Aftermath

Summary/Abstract: Reuben Markham was an American missionary-educator sent to the American Boys’ and Girls’ Schools in Samokov in 1912. An inspiring teacher, he returned to the United States in 1918 carrying secret Bulgarian government documents to persuade America to refrain from declaring war. Back in Bulgaria in 1920, he focused on journalism, editing several Bulgarian language periodicals. He criticized the Stambolisky government’s use of violence, then, after the 1923 coup, exposed the regime’s extrajudicial killings. He also helped many Bulgarians, regardless of political affiliation, either flee, reduce their sentences or be released from prison. His actions led the government to force his resignation from the American mission in 1925 and to arrest and try him in 1927. In 1931, Markham published his well-regarded Meet Bulgaria. Returning to the United States in 1939, he continued his opposition to authoritarian governments, first against Nazi Germany, and then after World War II, the Soviet Union’s domination of Eastern Europe. Using newspaper stories from the 1920s, descriptions of Markham, his personal letters and American archival sources, this article provides new information about Markham’s life, his teaching, his descriptions of government killings and his assistance to those in danger during this tumultuous period.

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