The Education Organization in the Greek Merchants Companies from Brasov and Sibiu in 18th and 19th Century

Proceedings of ‏The 2nd International Conference on Research in Social Sciences and Humanities

Year: 2020

DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/2nd.icrsh.2020.12.06

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The Education Organization in the Greek Merchants Companies from Brasov and Sibiu in 18^th and 19^th Century

Bogdan Eugen Anagnastopol

ABSTRACT: 

Situated between the West and the East, Transylvania was highly transited by oriental merchants on their way to Occidental Europe to sell their Levantine goods. The presence of the Greek ethnics merchants in Transylvania was first mentioned in the last decades of the Byzantine Empire, dealing with trading oriental goods. Starting from the 17^th century, on the south east part of Transylvania, two of the main Hellenic centers under the form of Merchants Companies were founded, in the cities of Sibiu and Brasov. These two Companies expand their dimension and started, besides the economical and trading dimension, to open schools and churches, in accordance with the privileges offered to the Greek Merchants by the Austrian Empire authorities. The opening of Greek schools occurred when the Merchants realized the lose of the Greek language and tradition of their children, together with the weakness of the Orthodox religion, in a Catholic context. The study analyze the educational organization within the Greek Companies in Transylvania, the implication of the Merchants in the school activities and who were the teachers brought to inspire and educate the Greek children in this two Companies from Sibiu and Brasov.

Keywords: Austrian Empire; Greek Diaspora; Greek School; Transylvania; Orthodoxy.