site.btaBulgarian Cultural Centre in Skopje Pays Tribute to Four Historical Figures

The anniversaries of four Bulgarian historical figures were celebrated Friday by the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Cultural Information Centrе of Bulgaria in the Republic of North Macedonia.

January 14 marks the 160th birth anniversary of Bulgarian linguist, ethnographer, dialectologist and historian Lyubomir Miletich. He was President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences from 1926 and of the Bulgarian Macedonian Scientific Institute from 1927 until his death in 1937. Miletich shared in the founding of Sofia University in 1888, said Dr Krasimira Koleva, specialist in dialectology and lecturer in Shumen University "Bishop Constantin Preslavsky". Miletich was the author of 400 books and contributed to the shaping of Modern Bulgarian. "His work on the unity of the Bulgarian language in all Bulgarian lands and its direct connection with Old Bulgarian is important and fundamental for the formation of the modern Bulgarian literary language. His personal papers were scattered during the bombing in 1944," said Dr Krasimira Koleva, specialist in dialectology and lecturer at the Constantine of Preslav University of Shumen.

Prominent Bulgarian satirist Aleko Konstantinov was born on January 1 (New Style January 13) 160 years ago. On the same date, but 145 years ago Peyo Yavorov was also born, and they both come with the symbolism of the new year. "Aleko is a special writer", said Marietta Ivanova-Girginova, Associate Professor at the Institute of Literature at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She also discussed the specificities of Aleko Konstantinov's main work and his protagonist, Bay Ganyo. 

The 145th birth anniversary of symbolist poet Peyo Yavovov was marked at the same event. "Yavorov's turbulent life, that was as short as 36 years, was marked by creativity, revolution, recognition, public condemnation, and personal tragedy," said journalist Vladimir Perev. 

"Yavorov was a man and a poet of the future. His poetry marked the beginning of Bulgarian symbolism, while his revolutionary work was the logical path of every young patriot. His revolutionary maturation lasted six years, from the moment when as a 17-year-old he went to Sofia to join the Melnik Insurrection of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC), then got acquainted with Gotse Delchev, and finally evolved into a professional revolutionary. This was the time when the liberation idea slowly captivated the poet, displacing all other ideas and thoughts. Yavorov was a poet of the revolution. The struggle, the revolution was his escape. In his last letter to the then leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), Todor Alexandrov, he wrote: 'Tell Macedonia, when you go there, that her son (I consider myself hers) will die in free Bulgaria, burdened with a heavy slander. And when Macedonia is free, have a friend come to the grave and say, "Greetings from our martyr mother - she is happy now!' His suicide was a heroic act, not an escape from reality, it was a victory of timelessness and idealism over the misery of real life," Perev said.

Philosopher Georgi Trendafilov spoke about the 95th anniversary of Mara Buneva's death on January 14.  Mara Buneva was born in Tetovo, in a family with five other siblings. Her brother initiated her in the ranks of IMRO. On January 13, 1928, on the Stone Bridge in Skopje, Mara Buneva shot the legal advisor Velimir Prelic, who was responsible for the Skopje Student Trial against members of the Macedonian Youth Secret Revolutionary Organization. She then shot herself and died of her wounds the next day. "Mara Buneva was from a generation subjected to an extremely harsh pressure by Belgrade and when everybody thought Macedonia was finished and nearly 100 Macedonian intellectuals were captured and tortured, Mara Buneva's act happened. We are the heirs of some of those who left no descendants so that we all could be their heirs," Trendafilov said.

"We pay a well-deserved tribute to a woman and three men, very different from each other, but united by a common ideal: Bulgaria. Each of them sacrificed their creativity, career, and even their life, so that today we can share their thoughts, ideas and follow in their footsteps because they were all significant figures, inspiring and respectable," the Director of the Bulgarian Cultural Center in Skopje, Antonia Veleva, said at the opening of the commemoration.

"We celebrate the anniversaries of figures, part of the common history of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia. Figures connected with the struggles of the Bulgarians in Vardar, Aegean Macedonia and the Adrianople region. Mara Buneva was born in Tetovo and died in Skopje, Lyubomir Miletich was born in Shtip and his great-grandfather was a voivode in Adrianople, Aleko Konstantinov and Yavorov were connected with the history of the Macedonian struggles. These are key and significant figures of our culture, each of them gave with a revolver and a pen a spiritual energy that we must carry through the centuries," said Angel Angelov, Bulgarian Ambassador in North Macedonia.