Albert Long (December 4, 1832,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, Pennsylvania - July 28, 1901,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England) was an American

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

pastor who devoted much of his life preaching in the Balkans. During his missionary activities in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

he contributed to the

Bulgarian National Revival The Bulgarian National Revival ( bg, Българско национално възраждане, ''Balgarsko natsionalno vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and tr, Bulgar ulus canlanması) sometimes called the Bu ...

. Long's contributed significantly to the translation of the Bible in modern Bulgarian. This translation established the literary norms of the contemporary Bulgarian language.

Biography

Albert Limerick Long was born on December 4, 1832, in

Washington, Pennsylvania Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania. A part of the Greater Pittsburgh area in the southwestern part of the state, the city is home to Washington & Jefferson College and Pony League baseball. The populat ...

. He was the son of a highly respected clergyman. Among the schoolmates of his childhood were

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

and

Matthew Quay Matthew Stanley "Matt" Quay (September 30, 1833May 28, 1904) was an American politician of the Republican Party who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1887 until 1899 and from 1901 until his death in 1904. Quay's control ...

. He was educated at

Western University of Pennsylvania The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

and at Alleghany College, Meadville, Pennsylvania. He also studied at the Concord Biblical Institute (now

University of Boston Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

). At the age of 24, he graduated with awards for his theological education and was invited to become a missionary to the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

and to move to the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. He accepted, and on June 27, 1857, he departed for the Ottoman Empire. During the three-month-long journey by ship, Long intensively studied Bulgarian. He used the first Bulgarian textbook for foreigners "Notes on Bulgarian Grammar", written by another missionary

Elias Riggs Elias Riggs (November 19, 1810 – January 17, 1901) was an American Presbyterian missionary and linguist. Biography Elias Riggs was born on November 19, 1810 in New Providence, New Jersey. He was the second son of Elias and Margaret (Congar) ...

. After his arrival, he settled in

Shumen Shumen ( bg, Шумен, also romanized as ''Shoumen'' or ''Šumen'', ) is the tenth largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province. Etymology The city was first mentioned as ''Šimeonis'' in 1153 by t ...

, now in Bulgaria, and began studying Greek and Turkish. Long befriended with the local intelligentsia. Two years later he moved to

Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...

. In 1859 he established a Bulgarian Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1863 he moved to Constantinople, the Ottoman capital, to become the overseer of the Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church for Bulgarian lands. He was one of the greatest advocates before the Ottoman authorities in favor of the Armenian cause during the massacre of 75,000 Armenians in 1896, part of the

Hamidian massacres The Hamidian massacres also called the Armenian massacres, were massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the mid-1890s. Estimated casualties ranged from 100,000 to 300,000, Akçam, Taner (2006) '' A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide an ...

. Long personally translated the records of Archimandrite Metodi Kusev detailing the atrocities of the suppression of the 1876

April Uprising The April Uprising ( bg, Априлско въстание, Aprilsko vastanie) was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The regular Ottoman Army and irregular bashi-bazouk units brutally su ...

in Bulgaria and handed them over to a reporter of the Daily News. Again, he urged the US Consul General in Istanbul,

Eugene Schuyler Eugene Schuyler (February 26, 1840 – July 16, 1890) was a nineteenth-century American scholar, writer, explorer and diplomat. Schuyler was one of the first three Americans to earn a Ph.D. from an American university; and the first American tran ...

, to visit the town of

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, ...

and to assure the credibility of the information about the

Batak massacre The Batak massacre was a massacre of Bulgarians in Batak by Ottoman irregular cavalry troops in 1876 at the beginning of the April Uprising. The estimate for the number of victims ranges from 1,200 to 8,000, depending on the source. Uprising ...

. The actions of these men helped to form a ''

casus belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...

'' for the 1877–1878

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histor ...

, which led to Bulgarian liberation. Long contributed greatly to the translation of the first edition of the Bible in modern

Bulgarian language Bulgarian (, ; bg, label=none, български, bălgarski, ) is an Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians. Along with the closely related Macedonian la ...

. Together with Dr.

, they made a translation using the former translation of

Neofit Rilski Neofit Rilski ( bg, Неофит Рилски) or Neophyte of Rila (Bansko, 1793 – January 4, 1881), born Nikola Poppetrov Benin ( bg, Никола Поппетров Бенин) was a 19th-century Bulgarian monk, teacher and artist, and an impor ...

. For twelve years they worked with

Petko Slaveikov Petko Rachov Slaveykov ( bg, Петко Рачов Славейков) (17 November 1827 OS – 1 July 1895 OS ) was a Bulgarian poet, publicist, politician and folklorist. Biography Early years and educational activity Slaveykov was born in ...

Konstantin Fotinov Konstantin Georgiev Fotinov ( bg, Константин Георгиев Фотинов; c. 1790 – 29 November 1858) was a Bulgarian writer, translator and enlightener of the Bulgarian National Revival period. The publisher of the first Bulgarian ...

and Hristodul Kostovich. In 1871 the first edition of the Bulgarian Bible was printed in Constantinople in semi-standardized Bulgarian language. From 1864 to 1872, Long edited and published the monthly magazine ''Zornitsa,'' the first Bulgarian Christian magazine. In 1870 Albert Long published a short history of the Bulgarians, under the title "The Slavs and the Bulgarians". From 1872 to 1901 he was professor of natural sciences at

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary ...

in Constantinople. He later became vice president of Robert College. He died at Liverpool, England on his journey to America on July 28, 1901. He was buried in

St James Cemetery St James's Cemetery is an urban park behind Liverpool Cathedral that is below ground level. Until 1825, the space was a stone quarry, and until 1936 it was used as the Liverpool city cemetery. It has been designated a Grade I Historic Park by H ...

, Liverpool.

Honours

* The

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

of liberated Bulgaria at their first session in 1879 accorded him a vote of thanks in recognition of his service to the Bulgarian cause. * Commander of the Princely Order of Saint Alexander (

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

). * Streets in the Bulgarian cities of

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( bg, Пазарджик ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality. The Tatars founded Pazardzhik in t ...

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...

Panagyurishte Panagyurishte ( bg, Панагюрище, also transliterated ''Panagjurište'', ) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, situated in a small valley in the Sredna Gora mountains. It is 91 km east of Sofia, 43 km north of P ...

are named after him. There is also a Methodist church named after Long in

.Magazine Vagabond, Sofia's temples, Part 4
by Gergana Manolova; photography by Anthony Georgieff, Tuesday, 28 September 2010.
/ref> * The cultural center of the

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus, Bosphorus strait. It has six facult ...

, Istanbul (formerly Robert College) is named after him.

Notes

External links

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Biography

Honours

Notes

External links

See also