Representation of the Council of ambassadors of the Russian diaspora in Bulgaria (1919–1940)

Abstract

The article is based on materials previously not used in the scientific circulation and highlights the dramatic history of the creation, activities, and closure of the Russian non-bolshevik representation in Bulgaria. The Russian Foreign Diplomatic Corps was the only remnant of the old state apparatus that survived the October Revolution in Russia (1917). The embassy in Sofia became a part of it at the end of 1919, after Bulgaria’s withdrawal from World War I. The article clarifies the circumstances and personal composition of the Representation. The embassy played an important role in the formation of the Russian refugee colony and was closed at the very beginning of 1923. The article identifies the causes of the crisis in relations between the Bulgarian authorities and the embassy, its development, assesses its collapse and shows the hard work that was aimed at preserving the informal non-bolshevik representation. The new representative of the Council of Russian Ambassadors in Bulgaria was B. S. Serafimov. Over two decades he defended the interests of the Russian colony there.