Diplomats and dreamers : the Stancioff family in Bulgarian history / Mari A. Firkatian.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Firkatian, Mari A. (Mari Agop), 1959-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Stancioff family.

Diplomats--Bulgaria--Biography.

Diplomats.

Bulgaria--Foreign relations.

Bulgaria.

International relations.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 359 pages : map ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham : University Press of America, [2008]

Summary:

This book chronicles a family of diplomats who experienced the world in transition. Subjects of capricious fate, they forged a destiny as a family that overcame some of the most cataclysmic events of the twentieth century. Diplomats and Dreamers is a family biography that begins with the careers of the parents in 1887 and ends with the death of Nadejda Stancioff, their eldest child, in 1957. The context of historical developments in an uncertain period of European history highlights their lives. Members of the haute bourgeoisie, this accomplished family is noteworthy for an unflagging ability to survive and persist with success and grace.

Furthermore, this book addresses issues of gender by using the careers of the Stancioff women as exemplars of how a woman could develop her life in an atmosphere of strict gender divisions in labor. The Stancioff women's way of fitting into the mainstream of elite society is yet another model of a new generation of women who stepped beyond the narrow expectations of what their gender could achieve. Based on unexplored, unpublished primary materials, this book enriches both women's history and European history.

Contents:

Part I A Bulgarian Diplomat and a French Courtier

1 Mass Culture and Politics 1

The Military Coup of 1923 2

A World in Transition 3

The Great Powers 5

Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg-Gotha 8

Europe on the Brink of War 10

The Stancioffs: Haute Bourgeoisie 13

Dimitri Stancioff Family Roots and Branches 14

Anna de Grenaud and the Cinzanos 16

Family Structure 19

2 The Young Family 29

Sofia the City 29

Life at Court 31

A Catholic Marriage 35

St. Petersburg 1896-1907 39

Diplomacy in the Age of Tsars and Chancellors 46

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister 51

The Creation of Sanctuary and Feelings of Patriotism 54

Construction of Les Trois Sources or Tri Kladenitsi 59

A Turbulent Year 60

3 Growing Up 67

Paris 1908-1915 67

Summer in Varna - the Orient East 71

Duties 75

Back to Work in Paris 84

Returning to Duties 98

Balkan Neighbors as Friends 101

4 Wars and More Wars 105

The Interesting Lives of Diplomats 105

The First Balkan War 108

Work With Papa 122

The Second Balkan War 127

1914 131

The Reality of War 137

Part II A Second Generation of Diplomats

5 Growing Up Fast: World War 145

Bulgaria Enters the War 145

Russian Revolution 156

1918 166

The Paris Peace Conference 173

Peace of Paris - the Balkan Conundrum 181

6 The Disillusionments of Peacetime 191

Bulgarian Delegates under Confinement 191

Men of a Certain Age 194

Denizens of the Orient 198

The Peace Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine 202

A Child and a Genius 205

Varna in 1920 210

7 International Kid to First Woman Diplomat 219

The Post Paris Conferences 219

Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James 222

The World's First Woman Diplomat 224

Power Broker and Big Sister 232

Domestic British Politics in the 1920s 245

A Brutal Murder 246

Life after Diplomacy 249

Family Marriages 251

8 Admirable English 261

Elite English Lifestyles 261

Interwar Britain 262

Life at Blair Drummond 264

Bulgarian Domestic Politics in the 1920s and 1930s 266

The Ivan Stancioffs 270

Nadejda Influences Public Opinion-Her 1920s and 1930s 273

Travel: Luxury, Power, and Comfort 275

A Broadcasting Career 282

The Bulgarian Cause in Great Britain 284

Publishing Her Message 288

Nazi Party in Germany 1933-1938 295

9 The End of an Era 309

Conditions for War, 1939-1940 309

Last Interview with King Boris 311

Pressure Comes to Bear on Bulgaria 315

War Years at Blair Drummond 318

International Intrigue 324

End of World War 328.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [341]-348) and index.

ISBN:

9780761840695

0761840699

OCLC:

229021472