Roumiana Ilieva Preshlenova
Scientific degree and current position:
Doctor of Philosophy, Professor
Doctor honoris causa
Director of the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology
Areas of academic interest:
Modern Balkan history; cultural, social, and economic history; international relations; digital humanities
Education and fellowships:
Education
1990 PhD in History from the Institute of Balkan Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
1984 MA in History with Specialization in History and Theory of Culture from Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski
1984 MA in German Language from Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski
Fellowships
2017 London School of Economics and Political Science
2014, 2011 Charles University and Technical University, Prague
2013-2014 Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen, Wien
2008, 2007, 1999, 1998 Universität Wien
2007 British Academy, London
1994 Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung, Wien
1994 Karl-Franzens Universität, Graz
1992 Südostst-Institut, München
1991 Österreichisches Ost- und Südosteuropa-Institut, Wien
1991 Central European University, Budapest
1990 Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
1989 Freie Universität, Berlin (West)
Participation in scholarly projects (selected):
Project Coordinator
2026-2027 “Cultural Interactions between Armenians and Bulgarians in History and Present”, Coordinator of the team of IBSCT-BAS of the Joint Research Project of IBSCT-BAS with the National Academy of Science of Armenia
2024-2028 INFRAMAT, Coordinator of the team of IBSCT-BAS in the National Scholarly Program Distributed infrastructure of centers for synthesis and characterization of new materials and conservation of archaeological and ethnographic artefacts
2022-2026 "Development and Promotion of Bulgarian Studies Abroad", Coordinator of the team of IBSCT-BAS in the National Scholarly Program funded by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science
2022-2024 “Empire of Consuls: Consulship, Sovereignty, and Empire in the Long Nineteenth Century”, Research project of IBSCT-BAS funded by the Bulgarian Science Fund, Ministry of Education and Science, Petar Beron i NIE-Program
2020-2024 and 2025-2027 “Socialization of Cultural Heritage in the Balkans”, Research project of IBSCT-BAS
2020–2021 "Visual Culture, Piety and Propaganda: Transfer and Reception of Russian Religious Art in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean (16th-early 20th c.) – RICONTRANS", Coordinator of the Bulgarian team of the project funded by the European Research Council
2019–2022 “Cultural historical heritage, national memory and social development”, Coordinator of the team of IBSCT-BAS in the National Scholarly Program funded by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science
Participant in Research Projects
2025-2027 “Leadership in the Balkans – Personalities, Policies, Strategies”, research project of IBSCT-BAS
2024-2026 “Populism and migrations: An interdisciplinary study of the problem in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries”, joint project of IBSCT-BAS and Sorbonne Nouvelle University - Paris 3 funded by the Bulgarian Science Fund, Ministry of Education and Science
2023-2026 “Cultural diplomacy in the Balkans in the 20th and 21st centuries: Achievements, challenges, and the way forward”, Research project of IBSCT-BAS funded by the Bulgarian Science Fund, Ministry of Education and Science
2022-2026 “Bulgarian and Croatian cultural routes in Southeast Europe. Intersections and interactions”, Joint project of IBSCT-BAS and Institute for the History of Croatian Literature, Theatrе and Music, HAZU
2020-2022, 2023-2026 „Serbian(Jugoslav)-Bulgarian relations and the interests of the Great Powers in the Balkans (19th–20th c.)”, joint project of IBSCT-BAS and the Institute of Balkan Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences
2020-2022 “The Balkans and the projects for regional and European integration (from the 19th century to the present)”, research project of IBSCT-BAS
2018-2028 CLADA-BG National Interdisciplinary E-Infrastructure for Resources and Technologies for the Bulgarian Language and Cultural Heritage, integrated within the European Infrastructures CLARIN-ERIC and DARIAH funded by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science
2018-2020 “Handbook of Balkan and Southeast European History”, international project of the University of Maryland
2018-2020 “Europe East of the West. 30 Years of Transition. Quo vadis?”, international project of Forum for the Humanities, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2018-2020 “Der Donauraum als Zivilisationsbrücke: Österreich und der Balkan. Perspektiven aus der Literatur- und Geschichtswissenschaft”, international project of Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski
2016-2017 “Leitfiguren der ‚Europäisierungen’ Südosteuropas im langen 19. Jahrhundert”, international project of the Pro Oriente Foundation, Vienna, Vienna University and Graz University
2013-2016 “United Europe, Divided History”, international project of the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen, Vienna
2013-2016 “Nationalsozialismus und Regionalbewusstsein im östlichen Europa. Ideologie, Machtausbau, Beharrung”, international project of European Network Remembrance and Solidarity
2013-2015 “Universität und Elitenbildung in Mittel- und Südosteuropa (19.-21. Jh.)”, international project of Graz University
2012-2014 “Disintegration and integration in East-Central Europe 1919-post-1989”, international project of Cluj-Napoca University
Teaching:
Balkan Studies Course for Osaka University, School of Foreign Studies, 2023-2025 (online)
Political Models in the Balkans in the 20th century, Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Faculty of History, 2011-2025 (part-time)
Nationalism, Identities and Societies in Southeastern Europe – Educational Centre of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, since 2010
Südosteuropäische Geschichte als europäische Geschichte – International intensive seminar for students from Southeast Europe and Germany, 2003
Economic and social history of the Balkans 19th -20th c., Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Faculty of History, 2001/2002 (part-time)
Selected publications:
Books:
По пътищата на европеизма. Висшето образование в Австро-Унгария и българите (1879-1918). София, Парадигма, 2008.
Австро-Унгария и Балканите, 1878-1912. София, Университетско издателство „Св. Климент Охридски“, 2017.
Albums:
101 Paintings from Bulgaria. Sofia, Institute of Balkan Studies and Centre of Thracology, Professor Marin Drinov Publishing House, 2022, 219 p. (with Alexandra D. Milanova and Belin T. Mollov) = 101 картини от България. София, Институт за балканистика с Център по тракология – БАН, Академично издателство "Проф. Марин Дринов", 2022, 259 с. (в съавторство с Александра Д. Миланова, Белин Т. Моллов).
Editorial:
Bulgarian Civil Society against the Holocaust During the Second World War. Sofia, Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology, 2023.
Светлина от облака. Екзарх Стефан в мемоари и документи. София, Институт за балканистика с Център по тракология, Българска академия на науките, 2023.
Cities in the Balkans. Spaces, Faces, Memories. Sofia, Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology, 2021.
Градът на Балканите. Пространства, образи, памет. София, Институт за балканистика с Център по тракология, Българска академия на науките, 2021.
Маски долу! Национализмът на Балканите през XX век. София, Парадигма, 2018.
Looking West, Feeling East. Impacts, Values and Loyalties in South-Eastern Europe. Sofia, Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology, 2015.
Öffentlichkeit ohne Tradition. Bulgariens Aufbruch in die Moderne. H. Heppner, R. Preshlenova (Hg.). Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern etc., Peter Lang Verlag, 2003.
Die Bulgaren und Europa von der Nationalen Wiedergeburt bis zur Gegenwart. H. Heppner, R. Preshlenova (Hg.). Sofia, Akademieverlag „Prof. M. Drinov“, 1999.
Österreich, Österreich-Ungarn und die Entwicklung der bulgarischen Eliten, 1815-1918. M. Lalkov, H. Heppner, R. Preshlenova, (Hg.). Sofia, Akademieverlag „Prof. M. Drinov“, 1999.
Translation:
Geschichte Südosteuropas. Vom frühen Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. Conrad Klewing, Oliver Jens Schmitt, Mario Kreuter, Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, 2011, 879 p. История на Югоизточна Европа от Ранното средновековие до наши дни. Конрад Клевинг и Оливер Йенс Шмит (състав.). Издателство „Парадгима“, 2023, 906 стр.
Articles and book chapters:
“Between Partnership and Influence: Austria-Hungary’s Cultural Diplomacy in the Balkans During World War I” – in: Alexandra Milanova (ed.), Cultural Diplomacy and the Balkans: Achievements and Challenges in the Present Time. Professor Marin Drinov Publishing House of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2025, 63-93.
“Economic Publications about Europe and Their Impact on Social Development in Bulgaria (1878–1918)”, in: The Development of Society and State. I. Serbian Newspapers 1835–1918. Ed. by L. P. Ristić. National Museum Kraljevo, Institute for Political Studies, Belgrade Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, 2023, 37-52.
“Austria-Hungary and the Balkans”, in: John R. Lampe, Ulf Brunnbauer (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Balkan and Southeast European History. London, New York, 2021, 128-134.
“Lost in Transition. Bulgaria after 1989”, in: Mira Miladinović Zalaznik, Dean Komel (Eds.), Europe East of West. 30 Years of Transition. Quo vadis? Ljubljana, Inštitut Nove revije, zavod za humanistiko, 2021, 21-31.
“European Influence and Reaction: Economics and Culture”, in: John R. Lampe and Constantin Iordachi (eds.), Battling over the Balkans. Historiographical Questions and Controversies, Central European University Press, Budapest-New York, 2020, 209-257 (with John R. Lampe).
“The Ottoman Balkans and Nation-Building”, in: John R. Lampe and Constantin Iordachi (eds.), Battling over the Balkans. Historiographical Questions and Controversies, Central European University Press, Budapest-New York, 2020, 25-94 (with V. Kehriotis).
„Bulgarien und der Vertrag von Neuilly 1919“, in: Michael Gehler, Thomas Olechowski, Stefan Wedrac, Anita Ziegerhofer (Hgg.), Der Vertrag von Saint Germain im Kontext der europäischen Nachkriegsordnung. Beiträge zur Rechtsgeschichte Österreichs, Jg. 9, 2019/2. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, 2019, 430-443.
Die „Dreifaltigkeit“ der Europäisierung Bulgariens im späten 19. Jahrhundert, in Harald Heppner (Hg.), Attraktionen und Irritationen. Europa und sein Südosten im langen 19. Jahrhundert. Neue Forschungen zur ostmittel- und südosteuropäischen Geschichte, Bd. 10. Berlin, Peter Lang, 2019, S. 85-104.
Liberation in Progress. Bulgarian Nationalism and Political Economy in a Balkan Perspective, 1878–1912, in T. Snyder, K. Younger (ed.), The Balkans as Europe, 1821-1914, Rochester Studies in East and Central Europe, East European Studies, Modern History, Rochester, NY, University of Rochester Press, 2018, 54-77.
От иредентизъм към дефанзивен национализъм: България след Първата световна война, В: Р. Прешленова (ред.), Маски долу! Национализмът на Балканите през ХХ век, София, Парадигма, 2018, 201-243.
За тишината на Изтока и мира в Европа. Австро-Унгария в Източната криза 1875-1878 г., в Пламен Митев, Тина Георгиева (състав.), Балканите и Европа в Източната криза 1875-1881 г. София, Университетско издателство „Св. Климент Охридски“, 2018, 329-342.
Staat, Hauptstadt und Provinz. Heirarchien im neuzeitlichen Bulgarien, in U. Tischler-Hofer, K. Kaser (Hg.), Provincial Turn. Verhältnis zwischen Staat und Provinz in der Geschichte des südöstlichen Europa vom letzten Drittel des 17. bis ins 21. Jahrhundert, Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang Edition, 2017, 113-130.
“Netzwerke und Einflussnahme. Die Besonderheiten des deutsch-bulgarischen Verhältnisses vor und während des Zweiten Weltkrieges”, in Burkhard Olschowsky, Ingo Loose (Hgg.), Nationalsozialismus und Regionalbewusstsein im östlichen Europa. Regionen des östlichen Europas im 20. Jahrhundert [Schriften des Bundesinstituts für Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen im östlichen Europa, Band 59; Schriften des Europäischen Netzwerkes Erinnerung und Solidarität, Band 8]. München, De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2016, 423-440.
“Collegium Germania und die deutsch-bulgarische wissenschaftliche Zusammenarbeit”, in Bulgarian-German Scientific Cooperation: Past, Present, and Future. Proceedings of the Humboldt-Kolleg, Sofia, Nov. 26– 28, 2015. Ed. by Ilza Pajeva, R. Argirova, Krum Bacvarov, Dilyana Boteva and Nikolina Burneva. Humboldt Union in Bulgaria, Sofia, 2016, 103-107.
“Benchmarking in the Era of Nationalism. Bulgarians and Slovenes in Comparison”, in R. Preshlenova (ed.), Looking West, Feeling East. Impacts, Values and Loyalties in South-Eastern Europe. Sofia, Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology, 2015, 7-35 = “Bolgari in Slovenci - primerjava v dobi nacionalizmov”, in Žarko Lazarević, Aleš Gabrič (ur.), Slovenci in Bolgari med Zahodnimi in Vzodnimi Vplivi. Ljubljana, Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino, 2016, 39-61.
“State, Society and the Educated Elite in Bulgaria, 1878-1918”, in F. Bieber, H. Heppner (ed.), Universities and Elite Formation in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe [Transkulturelle Forschungen an den Österreich-Bibliotheken im Ausland, Bd. 11], Wien, Zürich, 2015, 13-23.
“Uniting the Balkans: Common Desires and First Initiatives in the Interwar Period”, in Wilfried Loth, Nicolae Păun (eds.), Disintegration and integration in East-Central Europe 1919-post-1989. Publications of the European Union Liaison Committee of Historians, Berlin Nomos, Cluj-Napoca Editura Fundației pentru Studii Europene (EFES), 2014, 93-104. = “Greece and Bulgaria: Two Focuses on Integration in the Balkans between the Two World Wars”, in Y. Konstantinova (ed.), Greece, Bulgaria and European Challenges in the Balkans, Etudes balkaniques, 2015/1, 140-154.
“Economic Culture and Economic Policy in Southеastern Europe during the 19th Century”, in Tassos Anastassiadis, Nathalie Clayer (ed.), Society, Politics and State Formation in Southeastern Europe during the 19th century. Athens, Alpha Bank Historical Archives, 2011, 279-307.
“Emancipation through Education: Some Bulgarian Experience since the 19th Century”, in Peter Vodopivec, Aleš Gabrič (ed.), The Role of Education and Universities in Modernization Processes in Central and South-Eastern European Countries in 19th and 20th Century. Ljubljana, 2011, 53-62.
“The Close and the Distant Balkans. Building Up Identities in the Context of Economic Development 1878-1912”, Etudes balkaniques, 2004, 3, 51-78 = Frontiers revisited. Identities and Economy in the Balkans in late 19th and early 20th centuries. Saarbrücken, LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2011.
“Education as communication: Bulgarian-American Traditions”, in Miltenova, Anissava, Cynthia Vakareliyska (ed.), Bulgarian-American Dialogues in the Humanities, Sofia, Publishing House of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2010, 161-174.
“Wegweiser sozialen Wandels. Über die Verdrängung des Orientalismus aus Bulgarien seit 1878”, in Ulrike Tischler-Hofer, Renate Zedinger (Hgg.), Kuppeln, Korn, Kanonen. Unerkannte und unbekannte Spuren in Südosteuropa von der Aufklärung bis in die Gegenwart. Innsbruck, Studienverlag, 2010, 243-263.
“Elitenbildung. Die Südost-Stiftung des Mitteleuropäischen Wirtschaftstags Berlin an der Hochschule für Welthandel in Wien”, in Carola Sachse (Hg.), "Mitteleuropa" und "Südosteuropa" als Planungsraum. Wirtschafts- und kulturpolitische Expertisen im Zeitalter der Weltkriege. Göttingen, Wallstein Verlag, 2010, 391-417.
“Dinge, die verbinden. Überlegungen über die deutsch-bulgarischen Beziehungen seit dem 19. Jahrhundert”, Studies on Language and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe, 6. Chr. Voß (Hrsg.), EU-Bulgaristik. Perspektiven und Potenziale. München, Berlin 2009, 51-64.
“Die Zusammenarbeit auf dem Balkan. Grenzen und Möglichkeiten aus bulgarischer Sicht”, in Ulf Brunnbauer, Wolfgang Höpken (Hgg.), Transformationsprobleme Bulgariens im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. München 2007, 239-259.
“Deutscher Bildungsweg und politische Karriere in Bulgarien (bis 1944)”, Danubiana Carpathica. Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Kultur in den deutschen Siedlungsgebieten Südosteuropas. Hg. von Mathias Beer, Harald Heppner, Gerhard Seewann und Stefan Sienerth. Bd. 1 (48), München, Verlag Otto Sagner, 2007, 289-305.
“Zum Stand der Südosteuropa-Forschung in Bulgarien”, Revue des études sud-est européennes (RESEE), XLIV (Bucarest), 2006, 35-42.
“Der Balkan: Bilanz misslungener Annäherungsversuche”, in Michael Daxner, Peter Jordan, Paul Leifer, Klaus Roth und Elisabeth Vyslonzil (Hgg.), Bilanz Balkan. Wien, 2005, 24-46.
“Hoffnung auf eine Zukunft. Die europäische Integration und die bulgarische Informationslandschaft”, in Franz Görner (Hg.), Die erweiterte Europäische Union und Südosteuropa – Stand und Perspektiven der Informationsvermittlung. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Veröffentlichung der Osteuropa-Abteilung, Bd. 33. Berlin, 2005, 49-53.
“Challenges of Liberty. Shaping Identifications in Bulgarian Urban Space after 1878”, “We” and “The Others”: Modern European Societies in Search of Identity. Studies in comparative history, Studia historica LІІІ, Acta Universitatis Carolinae. Philosophica et Historica 1-2000. Praha, 2004, 103-115.
“Freiheit als Verantwortung. Zehn Jahre postkommunistischer Historiographie in Bulgarien”, in Al. Ivanišević, A. Kappeler, W. Lukan, A. Suppan (Hgg.), Klio ohne Fesseln? Historiographie im östlichen Europa nach dem Zusammenbruch des Kommunismus. Österreichische Osthefte 44, Wien, 2002, H. 1-2, 473-486.
“Im Vorhof zur Macht. Wirtschaft und Öffentlichkeit in Bulgarien 1878-1914”, in H. Heppner, R. Preshlenova (Hgg.), Öffentlichkeit ohne Tradition. Bulgariens Aufbruch in die Moderne. Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern etc., Peter Lang, 2003, 145-166.
“Die Wirtschaft Südosteuropas zwischen Ost und West (bis zum Zweiten Weltkrieg)“, in H. Heppner, Gr. Larentzakis (Hgg.), Das Europa-Verständnis im orthodoxen Südosteuropa. Graz, Grazer Theologische Studien Nr. 21, 1996, 17-34.
“Austro-Hungarian Trade and the Economic Development of Southeastern Europe before World War 1”, in D. F. Good (ed.), Economic Transformations in East and Central Europe. Legacies from the past and policies for the future. London - New York, Routledge, 1994, 231-260.
Exhibitions (selected):
The Ancient Treasures of Bulgaria/ Les tresors de la Bulgarie, 2023 – 2025 (with Alexandra D. Milanova and Eli Filipova).
Le cœur de la Bulgarie. Exposition du monastére de Rila pour l'UNESCO / The Heart of Bulgaria. Rila Monastery Exhibition for UNESCO, 2021-2023 (with Alexandra D. Milanova and Eli Filipova)
From Varna to world politics. 100th anniversary of the birth of Academician Nikolay Todorov (1921–2003), 2021 (with Alexandra D. Milanova and Eli Filipova)
Georgi S. Rakovski. Bright Mind and Invincible Spirit. 2021 (with Alexandra D. Milanova and Eli Filipova)
120th anniversary of the birth of Corresponding Member Prof. Dr. Vesselin Beshevliev, 2021 (with Alexandra D. Milanova and Eli Filipova)
Restoration of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, 2020 (with Alexandra D. Milanova and Eli Filipova)
City in the Balkans. Spaces, Faces, Memories in Postcards, 2019 (with the members of the Modern Balkans section and Eli Filipova)
Contacts:
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