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A typical nineteenth century Balkan “savant” George N. Vlahakis Hellenic Open University Tzveta Sofronieva Max Planck Institute for the History of Science During the nineteenth century the Balkan people became free from the long standing Ottoman occupation and started to form their own national identity. This procedure was necessary if we think in the widely accepted context of the ethnic nations which prevailed gradually throughout Europe after the Enlightenment. But if we see the Balkans as an organic unit, a region with common traditions, like the Orthodox religion and an education based initially on the works of the 18th century Greek scholars, we may examine the scientific development of the Balkans in a non-nationalistic framework. In the present paper we use as case study for such an approach, Pierre Beron (1798 – 1871), a famous Bulgarian scientist, who published also works in French, German and Greek and could be considered as the typical 19th century Balkan “savant”. A special attention will be given to his work “General Climatology” published in Athens in 1853 including his address in the prestigious Association of Natural Sciences titled Earth before the Deluge.
Key Words: Pierre Beron, national identity, 19th century, Balkans, meteorology
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Created: 31 July 2011 |