Happiness is finding Uncle Constantine! Some of my FB friends know that I am downright unyielding when it comes to an impossible genealogical mystery. Witness my 48 year (and finally successful) search for my biological great grandfather (Friend Karla Wollin Boyer is his granddaughter from a second marriage -- the two of us linked up earlier this year thanks to a successful DNA match). So, here I am in Sofia, Bulgaria -- again, after 39 years, faced with the prospect that I might not be able to find the grave and tombstone of my great uncle Constantine-- an inspiring figure in my life for the last 30 years or so -- a man who worked himself up from very modest circumstances to attend and graduate from Yale University in 1899 (B.A.) and 1901 (M.A.) and to do doctoral work at Berlin University. Later he became a professor of philology at Sofia University, composed the first Bulgarian-English dictionary and was engaged at various times to promote Bulgarian and Macedonian interests after World War I. Neat guy, huh? Anyway, it looked like I wouldnt get to find Uncle Constantines grave -- when I was here before my cousins were old and infirm, and anyway, messing around in the Protestant section of the Sofia Cemetery wasnt a good idea when the country was still very much under communist rule. So, armed with a lot of humility, a bit of courage (not knowing exactly what or who I would encounter in the Sofia Central Cemetery) and a map, I hazarded out by myself. But wait-- one small wrinkle -- the metro stop is a couple of miles from the cemetery! I asked one guy for directions but he pointed me in the wrong direction and I ended up walking all the way back to the original Metro stop to start all over again. From my map I knew I wasnt far, so I was going to take a taxi. The drivers tried to hustle me for 10 leva which I refused to pay -- so back to walking. Again, I had a pretty good idea that I had to walk under a set of railroad tracks and had found the only underpass where I could go. Stopped and asked a poor Bulgarian woman on the street and she at least walked me to the intersection and oriented me in the right direction. I was very happy when walking down the street and seeing ahead of me the entrance to the cemetery. Obstacle one overcome! The next was visiting the cemetery office where I waited patiently to talk to the director, a nice young woman who spoke no English. But a nice fellow was eventually procured and we huddled with the directors secretary -- finally finding that Uncle Constantine was buried in Section 22, Row 6, along with several other members of the family. I was headed over to the plot when some cemetery workers saw me and drove me over to the plot (I didnt need help, and I soon learned that they wanted me to pay them). I couldnt shake the guys, so really didnt have the opportunity to see other graves in the section. However, I did get photos of Uncle Constantine. What a total surprise, however, The grave to the right hand side is for William Clarke and his wife, well-known American missionaries who were friends with Constantine. In 1978 I was the guest of Professor James Franklin Clarke, a grandson of this couple, who wrote an important dissertation (1937) on the American Missionary movement in Bulgaria when he was at Harvard University. On the other side of Constantine and his wife are buried the Nikola Tzanov family-- Constantines brother-in-law, and the husband of my grandfathers 1st cousin on another branch of my family. All in all, it was my private little adventure for this trip to Bulgaria, and one Im glad I took!
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 13:37:27 +0000