Другите за нас: българите през погледа на един хърватин
The Others about Us: Bulgarians through the Eyes of a Croat

Summary/Abstract: On the basis of a hitherto unpublished manuscript of the Croat Dr. Fran Gundrum Oriovčanin, Something about Bulgarians, kept at the Archives of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb, this article acquaints us with the impressively comprehensive and profoundly discerning analysis the author of the manuscript has made of the everyday life and mentality of Bulgarians. Fran Gundrum, who lived and worked as a doctor in Bulgaria in the course of five years (1889–1894), had the opportunity to become closely acquainted with Bulgarians. Following their truly arduous historical development, this Croat intellectual with encyclopaedic interests — doctor, ethnologist, archaeologist, lexicographer, public and cultural figure, as well as a noted translator (a pioneer in the translation and popularisation of Bulgarian literature) succeeded in presenting his quite objective, full of sympathy and respect view of Bulgarians „in general“. This view is comprehensive — it reveals the anthropological type and the condition of Bulgarians’ health, acquaints us with their cuisine, dress, religion, morals, art, psychology, etc. Fran Gundrum also succeeded in something very important – to express his firm belief in the advancement and „bright future“ of the Bulgarian people and Bulgaria on the basis of his direct impressions and reasoning.

• Details
• Contents