The project “Thessaloniki and the Bulgarians: History, Memory, Present” funded by the Bulgarian Science Fund is the first to be honored in the new section of the Fund called "Successes and achievements".
The significant scientific results and achievements of the team, led by Assoc. Prof. Yura Konstantinova, Dr. habil. from the IBSCT-BAS, are:
- The project offers new perspective on the history of Bulgarians and Greeks beyond nationalist tendencies;
- It allows the descendants of Thessaloniki families to accept their painful past and to reconcile with it;
- Its sight to present day illustrates the intense exchange between Bulgarian and Greek communities, which is at stake in overcoming the existing prejudices on both sides of the border;
- The project reates a model that allows to expand the research of Bulgarian communities beyond the borders of Bulgaria;
- The scientific research filled a gap in distant past and more recent history of Thessaloniki;
- It proved that Thessaloniki is important and emotional place of the Bulgarian memory as well as reflection of the shared Bulgarian-Greek hope for a possible common future;
- This project enjoys immense popularity among professionals as well as a wider range of people who are actively involved in its development by sharing their family stories, memories, photographs and documents;
- It attracted donors who funded the translation of project's website into Greek;
- The multidisciplinary of the study about the interconnection of the Bulgarians with one of the most important urban centers in the Balkans in a wide chronological range, highlighted persons, events, processes, and objects from different aspects of social life, which have remained so far beyond the great story of Bulgarian history;
- It became a representation of the activities of IBSCT-BAS and made the institute more recognizable;
- Four months before project end date, the team managed to publish a documentary (both in Bulgarian and English), 1 collective monograph, 3 monographs (1 in French and 2 in Bulgarian), 14 articles and papers, of which 10 appeared in peer-reviewed publications;
- Encourages heirs of Bulgarian families from Thessaloniki to write family studies.
More information about the project is available on its website https://www.solunbg.org/en/