The Bulgarian High School in Thessaloniki

Abstract

In order to show that it was implementing reforms, in 1880 the Ottoman
government decided to withdraw the privileges of the Greek metropolitans,
who controlled the Bulgarian schools, and to bring these under state control.
The Exarchate initially accepted this with some relief, though the measure did
affect the privileges it had been granted by sultanic firman.
In many areas, the Ottoman authorities looked favourably on education.
And so Bulgarian educational activity began in the vilayet of Macedonia under
favourable conditions.
The inspiration behind the Bulgarian High School for Boys and Girls in
Thessaloniki is considered to have come from an elderly teacher from Ohrid
named (Kusman) Sapkarev. Objections came from Sofia, however, with
regard to Thessaloniki, which the Bulgarians regarded as a foreign city because
the majority of the population was Greek.
Eventually, the following arguments supported the founding of a Bulgarian
High School in Thessaloniki. 1) The students would not come from
Thessaloniki itself, but from the province around the city and the hinterland
more generally (indeed all of Macedonia), because Thessaloniki occupied a
central location in the region. 2) The city’s cosmopolitan character would help
the students to learn about things which they were not taught at school. 3) As a
coastal city, Thessaloniki enjoyed considerable commercial activity, people
flocked there, mainly from Asia Minor and Europe, many countries had 

consulates there, and many foreign nationals were established there, even
Americans; so many Bulgarians believed that the Macedonian city could also
display a Bulgarian character, along with all the rest. 4) Once the Bulgarian
High School had officially opened in Thessaloniki, it would be more difficult
for the Ottoman authorities to close it down, in case the consuls intervened.
After much shilly-shallying, the Thessaloniki High School did eventually
open. But throughout its life it experienced periods of peaceful progress and
periods of internal unrest and rebellion. It was the battlefield of two rival
political trends.
Interesting statistical data reveal the impact on the Exarchists of the
Bulgarian High School in Thessaloniki, which operated continuously for thirtythree
years, from the academic year 1880-1881 to 1912-1913.
Death brought Giorgos Tousimis’s notes to an abrupt end. However, this
study may help future researchers to find their bearings more easily in the
field of research in which Giorgos Tousimis was involved.