Свищовските търговци предприемачи през Възраждането: опит за просопографски портрет
Svishtov Merchant-Entrepreneurs during the Bulgarian National Revival Period: an Attempt at a Prosopographical Portrait

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the text is to create a prosopographical portrait of the merchant-entrepreneurs from the Danubian town of Svishtov during the Bulgarian National Revival period. I will shed light on merchants’ family background, education, individual qualities, etc. Most of the merchants were born in Svishtov. On the other hand, there are persons who fled from their native places and settled down in Svishtov. Some of them chose to settle in Svishtov in order to find better prospects for professional realization and peaceful life. Often these people are not highly educated, although there are some exceptions. Despite the lack of high and/or specialized education, they compensate with their individual qualities such as natural intelligence, resourcefulness, diligence, perseverance and honesty. They used “strategic marriages” to preserve, and to extend their wealth. They created entrepreneurial networks through which exchanged information with their relatives, acquaintances and friends. They used commercial and personal letters. Some of them were fluent in foreign languages. They used different kinds of commercial ledgers. They managed to benefit from the advantages brought to them by the economic situation in the 18th and 19th centuries. All of them participate, according to their abilities, in the public life of their native Svishtov.

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