Varna

The consulates

The consuls

Louis Parant. On September 16, 1802 Louis Parant, a former consul in Iasi, was appointed as the first French sous commissaire (vice consul) in Varna with an annual salary of 6000 francs. Due to the turbulent times the region was going through, mostly because of the so called Kardjali and Ayan unrest, Parant didn’t settle in Varna and only passed through the town. He was in Bucharest for a while, and then headed to Istanbul where he remained under the orders of the French ambassador to the Ottoman capital while awaiting further notice from the Foreign Minister. In Bucharest and Istanbul Parant was following the situation in Bulgaria closely and described it in his reports. Subsequently he was temporary assigned in Iasi and later constantly appointed in Bucharest (the latter was made by a decree from March 18, 1806, until which time Louis Parant was still being addressed with the title of "French sous commissaire of Varna"). The Frenchman arrived in the Wallachian capital, but died shortly thereafter. The reports of Parant about Varna during the period, in which he held the post, are a valuable source material for the history of the city and the region^[1].

François Gustave Olive. He was a French vice-consul in Varna in the 1840s. In the early 1840s he created the limited joint-stock commercial company “Olive, Tedeschi & Co”, the circular letter of which was deposited at the French Embassy in the Ottoman capital. This company was one of the first to respond to the liberalized trade relations and to open a representative office in Varna, where the other major shareholder used to live and work – the French Jew Adolf Salvator Tedeschi. Olive expressed before the ambassador his readiness to take up the post of a vice consul in Varna without state remuneration and in August 1942 he was already in charge of his new post. However, he needed another 7 to 8 months until he got officially recognized by the district and provincial authorities. On March 25, 1843 with a modest but solemn ceremony (there were even seven cannon salutes from the board of an English merchant ship docked in the port of Varna) the French agent was presented to the Meclis, the French flag was erected in the courtyard of his residence and the establishment of a vice consulate was officially announced. Francois Gustave Olive remained in office as a French vice consul in Varna until December 1848 when he asked to be released. The reasons for his resignation were personal as well as professional – his family never moved to the Black Sea town, and in August 1847 he liquidated the company “Olive, Tedeschi & Co” and redirected his commercial activity to another area. Olive has proposed his former partner Adolf Salvator Tedeschi as a successor of his and the French vice-consulate is still based in the home of the latter until today. Tedeschi was best suited for the post, because he was familiar with the consular commitments. At the time, he was an Austrian consul, and had many times taken the place of Olive in the French service when the latter was absent from the town^[2].

Adolphe Salvator Tedeschi. He was Austrian and French consul in Varna during the period from the 1840s to the 1870s. He was a French Jew, born in Marseilles. Moved to Varna in 1837 and engaged in commercial and diplomatic activities. Adolf Salvator was a grain trader, a major partner in the limited joint-stock commercial company “Olive, Tedeschi & Co”, initiator of interesting projects in the city and the region. In the early 1840s he acquired Austrian citizenship and became the first consul of this country in Varna, officially recognized by the Sublime Porte in the post on February 13, 1845. On March 17, 1849, Adolf Salvator was temporarily appointed French vice consul in the city – a “provisional” appointment that lasted for 30 years, until 1879, and that he performed with zeal. Adolf Salvator left the best memories for his fellow-citizens, and he even declared his support to the Bulgarian national liberation movement^[3].

Emmanuel Marius Tedeschi, brother of Adolf Salvator Tedeschi, was a Belgian consul in Varna for an extended period of time from 1856 to 1898. Emmanuel Marius took charge of the operation of the French postal office in the area. He was a representative of the company “Messageries impériales” in Varna and a rabbi in Rodosto (present day Tekirdağ)^[4].

[1] Русев, И. Луи Паран – първият френски консул на Варна и неговата дипломатическа мисия на Балканите в края на XVIII и началото на XIX в. – В Юбилеен сборник в чест на проф. Дойно Дойнов „75 години наука, мъдрост и достойнство, събрани в един живот”, С., 2004, с. 75–92.

[2] Roussev, I. Les premiers pas de la pénétration consulaire française en Bulgarie : le consulat de Varna. – in : Enjeux politiques, économiques et militaires en mer Noire (XIV^e – XXI^e siècles). Edudes à la mémoire de Mihail Guboglu. Sous la direction de Faruk Bilici, Ionel Cândea, Anca Popescu, Braïla (Roumanie), 2007, p. 677–702 ; Русев, И. Варна през 40-те години на XIX в. Консулското присъствие, интересни събития и проекти в града, отразени в докладите и кореспонденцията на френския вицеконсул Франсоа-Гюстав Олив. – Известия на народния музей – Варна, Т. XLII (LVII), Варна, 2006, с. 96–136.

[3] Петрова, Ев. Братя Тедески. – Годишник на Обществената културно-просветна организация на евреите в Н. Р. България. Г. XXIII, София, 1988, с. 119–122; Roussev, I. Les premiers pas de la pénétration consulaire française en Bulgarie : le consulat de Varna. – in : Enjeux politiques, économiques et militaires en mer Noire (XIV^e – XXI^e siècles). Edudes à la mémoire de Mihail Guboglu. Sous la direction de Faruk Bilici, Ionel Cândea, Anca Popescu, Braïla (Roumanie), 2007, p. 677–702 ; Русев, И. Варна през 40-те години на XIX в. Консулското присъствие, интересни събития и проекти в града, отразени в докладите и кореспонденцията на френския вицеконсул Франсоа-Гюстав Олив. – Известия на народния музей – Варна, Т. XLII (LVII), Варна, 2006, с. 96–136.

[4] Петрова, Ев. Братя Тедески. – Годишник на Обществената културно-просветна организация на евреите в Н. Р. България. Г. XXIII, София, 1988, с. 119–122; Roussev, I. Les premiers pas de la pénétration consulaire française en Bulgarie : le consulat de Varna. – in : Enjeux politiques, économiques et militaires en mer Noire (XIV^e – XXI^e siècles). Edudes à la mémoire de Mihail Guboglu. Sous la direction de Faruk Bilici, Ionel Cândea, Anca Popescu, Braïla (Roumanie), 2007, p. 677–702 ; Русев, И. Варна през 40-те години на XIX в. Консулското присъствие, интересни събития и проекти в града, отразени в докладите и кореспонденцията на френския вицеконсул Франсоа-Гюстав Олив. – Известия на народния музей – Варна, Т. XLII (LVII), Варна, 2006, с. 96–136.

References

Websites:

Вебсайты:

Archival sources:

Архивные источники:

Bibliography:

Библиография:

Русев, И. Луи Паран – първият френски консул на Варна и неговата дипломатическа мисия на Балканите в края на XVIII и началото на XIX в. – В Юбилеен сборник в чест на проф. Дойно Дойнов „75 години наука, мъдрост и достойнство, събрани в един живот”, С., 2004, с. 75–92.

Roussev, I. Les premiers pas de la pénétration consulaire française en Bulgarie : le consulat de Varna. – in : Enjeux politiques, économiques et militaires en mer Noire (XIV^e – XXI^e siècles). Edudes à la mémoire de Mihail Guboglu. Sous la direction de Faruk Bilici, Ionel Cândea, Anca Popescu, Braïla (Roumanie), 2007, p. 677–702 ;

Русев, И. Варна през 40-те години на XIX в. Консулското присъствие, интересни събития и проекти в града, отразени в докладите и кореспонденцията на френския вицеконсул Франсоа-Гюстав Олив. – Известия на народния музей – Варна, Т. XLII (LVII), Варна, 2006, с. 96–136.

Петрова, Ев. Братя Тедески. – Годишник на Обществената културно-просветна организация на евреите в Н. Р. България. Г. XXIII, София, 1988, с. 119–122;