Diplomacy and Intelligence in the Balkans, 17th-19th Centuries:
The Human Factor and Networks of Influence
Institute for Historical Studies,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Home Organization and Research Team
Institute for Historical Studies,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
The Institute for Historical Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, as an organization carrying out fundamental scientific research, has the necessary capacity to offer not only scientific expertise to the team of young researchers involved in the current project (through the experience and qualifications of the academic staff), but also “know-how” in conducting scientific projects, including in the implementation of conferences and in the publication of valuable works. The subject of the Institute’s activities are fundamental and specialized, theoretical and empirical research on the problems of Bulgarian and general history, as well as educational, expert and consulting activities for the needs of management and public practices related to the study, preservation and popularization of cultural and historical heritage.
Research Team
The team of this project consists of young researchers from the Institute for Historical Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences with experience in the study of various issues of the Modern Era in European history and broad interests, whose touch point is the history of diplomacy and intelligence. The team’s ambition is to collect and subsequently analyze a wealth of source material from a variety of substantive sources. The experience and proficiency of the team members in handling sources from archival repositories and libraries in Bulgaria and abroad guarantee the successful implementation of the research project. Their linguistic qualification will allow them to work freely both in the search and processing of sources heterogeneous in type, genre and language and in the dissemination of the results of the research. Experience in working with the specialized text recognition software Transkribus will assist researchers in their work with early modern manuscript documents.
Aneliya Stoyanova
Coordinator of the research team
Dr. Aneliya Stoyanova is a Senior Assistant Professor at the Institute for Historical Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. PhD in Balkan History from the Faculty of History of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She holds a BA degree (2011) and a MA degree (2013) from the same institution. Her research interests are focused on the Early Modern period, in particular on intercultural dialogue and diplomacy, diplomatic practices in the context of European-Ottoman contacts, intelligence and social networks. Contacts between Christianity and Islam, relations and communication between the European courts, the Ottoman and Safavid empires, comparative analysis of relations between the leading powers during the period, and the impact of the plague epidemics of the 16th and 17th centuries on life and everyday life are also the subject of her interests and research. As a PhD student, Aneliya received a Richard Plaschka Fellowship (2015-2016) and a Gerda Henkel Foundation Doctoral Fellowship (2018-2019), thanks to which she carried out several specializations in Vienna, Austria, and Valladolid and Madrid, Spain. As a postdoctoral fellow, Aneliya Stoyanova won successive fellowships from the programs “Bulgarian-Swiss Fellowships for Young Bulgarian Scholars and Representatives of the Bulgarian Academic Diaspora Abroad” and “Joint Excellence in Science and Humanities”, thanks to which she participated in the Advanced Academia program of the Sofia Center for Academic Studies and in the project of the Austrian Academy of Sciences “QhoD - Digital Edition of Sources on Habsburg-Ottoman Diplomacy 1500-1918”, respectively. She has presented her work at international conferences in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Lyubomir Krastev
Team member
Associate Professor Lyubomir Tsvetanov Krastev is the author of two monographs and a number of articles on the subject of British involvement in the Crimean War. He specialized in Great Britain and has studied the British national archives, on the documents of which a significant part of his scientific research work is built. L. Krastev has extensive professional experience with British history. He is a specialist in the history of the British Empire in the 19th century and teaches this subject to the students of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in the undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs of the Faculty of History and the Faculty of Classical and New Philologies. In addition, he is a visiting professor at the University of Cologne, where he is part of the Department of Modern History, headed by prof. Ute Planert. Krastev has had a number of international specializations in European archives and universities and has led and participated in a variety of research projects that have been successfully implemented, including at the National Science Fund. As a postdoctoral research fellow at the Faculty of History of the University of London from 2019-2021, he is researching Russophobia in Britain and Queen Victoria’s diaries from the archives at the Round Tower of Windsor Castle, to which he has special access thanks to the administration of the UK Royal Family. Krastev has been a member of the British Royal Historical Society since 2015 and maintains active links with researchers of British history on the Island from a variety of institutions. His competences and contacts lead to the conclusion that he can successfully handle the research tasks set in the project.
Aleksandar Zlatanov
Team member
Dr. Aleksandar Zlatanov is a Senior Assistant Professor at the Institute for Historical Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. PhD in History (2020) from the Faculty of History of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. He holds a MA degree (2015) from the same institution. His research interests focus on various aspects of the geopolitical, diplomatic, socio-economic and military history of the Balkans and Eastern Europe in the “long” 19th century. Also on Polish emigration to the Balkans in the 19th century, and on foreign sources and travelogues on the Balkans in the 19th century. He has specialized and worked extensively in over 20 foreign archives and libraries in Turkey, Great Britain, Russia, France and Poland. Participant in over 42 international conferences, scientific programs and congresses in Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Macedonia, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, France, Lithuania, Russia, Great Britain, USA. Participant in 1 international and 5 national scientific projects. Lectured at Jagiellonian University and Istanbul University. Author of 24 studies and articles in three languages, most published in indexed and refereed journals in world databases. Member of 8 international scholarly organizations, including the British Royal Historical Society (RHS) and the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES). He has been awarded the annual Rector’s Award for Research in 2017 and 2018, as well as the PhD Student of the Year at the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. Fellow of the international fellowships: “Sasakawa” (2016), “The Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund Research Abroad” (2017), “Thesaurus Poloniae” (2021), “Turkish and Black Sea Scholars' Fund” (2023). Reviewer of several international periodicals and monographs.
Donika Tsanovska-Schneeweiss
External researcher
Dr. Donika Tsanovska-Schneeweiss has defended her PhD in Balkan History at the Faculty of History of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" in 2024. There she received her Bachelor's (2018) and Master's degrees (2019). The topic of her dissertation is "Role and Activity of the Dragomans. The Austrian Branch of the Testa Family in the Second Half of the 18th Century - the First Half of the 19th Century." Her scientific interests are focused on Balkan history in the 17th–19th centuries, the peculiarities of Ottoman diplomacy and the nature of its relations with Western European countries in the 17th–19th centuries. The role of the Dragomans in international relations as a bridge between East and West and the networks of influence that they built occupy an important place in her research. As a doctoral student, Donika received an Ernst Mach Grant – worldwide (2021-2022), which allowed her to specialize in Austria, where she worked at the Austrian State Archives. Donika has participated in national and international conferences, round tables and doctoral workshops, where she presented the results of her research.