Józef Sulimowicz – a Karaite and a Friend of Bulgaria

Abstract

The text presents the figure of Józef Sulimowicz as described and seen in the correspondence of his friends Wilhelm Mach, Dymitar Dobrev, Vicho Ivanov and Radichevi’s family. It is argued that the Sulimowicz’s friends – writers and publishers – created a protective community which was very important for their personal well-being
during the communist era. This circle of close friends was engaged in Sulimowicz’s
research of Arabic and Karaite manuscripts in Bulgaria in a period when the Bulgarian communist government bans teaching in Turkish, closes the Department of
Turkology at Sofia University and tries to create ethnically homogeneous state. The
article is based on archival materials which have not been published yet.