Bulgaris, Eugenios

BULGARIS, bul-gɑ̄´ris, EUGENIOS, ê´´ū-gê´nî-es: Russian prelate; b. in the island of Corfu Aug. 10, 1716; d. at St. Petersburg June 10, 1806. He was educated at Padua, and taught in various schools and at the academy of Athos from 1755 to 1759. His orthodoxy being impugned, he went to the West, and was recommended by Frederick the Great to Catherine II. of Russia, who appointed him bishop of Slovensk and Kherson. In 1801 he retired to the monastery of Alexander Nevsky. Bulgaris was a very gifted and learned man, and contributed toward making Western culture accessible to his people. Together with Koraïs, he may be regarded as the founder of modern culture in Greece. He was an eclectic in philosophy, and was familiar with all branches of theology. Among his numerous works (in Greek), special mention may be made of his "Orthodox Confession" (Amsterdam, 1767), written against the Jesuit Leclerc, but also opposing the Protestants; and his "Address on Tolerance" (1768), denying the State the right of intolerance toward adherents of other creeds than that of the national church. His principal work was the "Dogmatic Theology" (ed. Lontopulos, Venice, 1872), the first real Greek treatise on dogmatics since the Middle Ages. It is divided into four parts, treating of God, the Trinity, anthropology, and Christology. Among his historical writings the most important was the "First Century from the Incarnation of Christ the Saviour" (Leipsic, 1805), while to the department of practical theology belongs the "Pious Talk" (2 vols., 1801), a moralistic exposition of the Pentateuch. He also translated several writings of Augustine, and such works as the De processione Spiritus sancti of Zoernikau ( St. Petersburg, 1797). He likewise edited the works of Joseph Bryennius, and assisted in the editing of the works of Theodoret (Halle, 1768).

Philipp Meyer.

Bibliography: P. Strahl, Das gelehrte RussIand, Leipsic, 1828 (from Russian sources); A. P. Vretos, Biographie de l’archevêque E. Bulgari, Athens, 1860; A. D. Kyriakos, Geschichte der orientalischen Kirchen, Leipsic, 1902.