Enlightenment

The beginning of the Bulgarian National Revival starts with the creation of Slavonic-Bulgarian History by Saint Paisius of Hilendar or in Bulgarian – Istorita Slavyanobulgarska by Paìsiy Hilendàrski. He can be called the forefather of the Bulgarian Revival. His work, written in 1762, laid out the beginning of the Bulgarian nationalism. It served as a reminder to the Bulgarian people for the greatness of their historical past and as an opposition to the Greek influence. It gave birth to the age of cultural enlightenment which thrived more as Bulgarians became wealthier in the late 18th century. In front of you is the restored first printed copy of Istoriya Sl. Published in 1864. 

On your right you can see a printed copy of Sofronius Vrachanski’s autobiography Life and Sufferings of Sinful Sophronius. Sofronius is the first person to make a transcript of St Paisius’ History. After Sofronius, more than 60 Bulgarians made copies of it, all of them transcribing Paisius’ work by hand.

Neophyte of Rila is the first teacher in the first Bulgarian school established in 1835 in Gabrovo. He was sent by the founder – Vasil Aprilov, to study the new educational method so that he could apply it with the Bulgarian students. The concept of the method of mutual teaching was that more advanced students were passing down the knowledge to the younger ones by using tables and grammar books. Later in life Neophyte was offered teaching positions in numerous schools but he declined all of them and retreated to the Rila Monastery, nearby Blagoevgrad. He dedicated the rest of his life to writing books about the Bulgarian language and the life in the Rila Monastery. The mark he left in the history of the local community is remembered through the school and the university in Blagoevgrad that are named after him.

Here you can see original books that were used in the Bulgarian schools in different decades throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The teachers were not just teachers in a classroom but also the ones to write and go around from village to village to spread the spirit among the Bulgarian communities. Their goal was to educate and to take care of the children.

The most important encyclopedist was Petar Beron. He wrote the Fish Primar. It was called like that because there was a fish on the front page. Or at least, this is how the people saw it. Interestingly enough the painting was a representation of a whale. This book had a range of general knowledge collected in one place. Beron knew many languages and promoted the use of a new and more compassionate educational approach towards the children. Back in the days beating was accepted as a way to discipline the children but influenced by the Western culture, Beron opposed it. He stood up for more tolerant approach towards the kids and promoted studying with entertainment in between or what we today know as recess.

Nedelya Petkova was the first female teacher in the Macedonian region. She was teaching in an all-girls school and just in her first year had over 200 girls in her class.

Stefan Verkovic was one of the first foreign researchers who were sent to the Macedonian region to collect information about the Bulgarian people living there and their ethnographic identity.

Dimitar Biserov was a teacher in the first school in Gorna Dhumaya, today Blagoevgrad. He was strongly influenced by Neofit Rilski and a follower of his ideas from the school in Gabrovo. He was the teacher of Georgi Izmirliev who was a popular revolutionary from Blagoevgrad.

Kuzman Shapkarev was born in Ohrid in 1834. He wrote the book collection ‘Bulgarian Folklore Proverbs’. It had a number of volumes that portrayed Bulgarian psychology and all of its characters – from the normal to the intelligent, there was something describing everyone. Although he had a troublesome personal life he had a significant contribution to the Bulgarian cultural revival. He was the initiator of the Bulgarian high school in Thessaloniki that you will hear about in the following exposition.

The Bulgarian language regained its significance on the cultural scene of the Balkans. It started with Paisius and it continued with the fight for new Bulgarian schools and the revival of the Bulgarian exarchate. Now Bulgarians were considering a political liberation from the Ottoman Empire.