Bulgarians Mark 172 Years since the Birth of Hristo Botev

On January 6, Bulgaria marks 172 years since the birth of the Bulgarian poet and revolutionary Hristo Botev. Celebrations will take place across the country, BNT reported.

In many places in the country, together with marking Botev's birth, church celebrations will be held for water blessings of the military units and flags, which will be followed by the ceremony for retrieving the cross from rivers on Epiphany.

Celebrations to mark Hristo Botev's birth will take place in his birth town of Kalofer, in Sofia, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, Haskovo, Blagoevgrad, Veliko Turnovo, Varna and Burgas.

Botev was born in Kalofer in 1848. His father was a teacher and one of the most significant figures in the late period of the Bulgarian National Revival.

In 1863, after completing his elementary education in Kalofer, Botev was sent by his father to a high school in Odessa, where he studied for 2 years. During this period, his ties to the Russian revolutionary movement and his political views began to form.

In 1867, he returned to Kalofer to teach in place of his ill father. In May, he made a public speech against the Ottoman authorities, which led to his exile and move to Romania seeking asylum.

From 1869 to 1871, Botev worked again as a teacher in Bessarabia, keeping close relations with the Bulgarian revolutionary movement and its leaders. In June 1871, he became editor of the revolutionary emigrant newspaper "Word of the Bulgarian Emigrants", where he published early poetic works.

He closely collaborated with the Russian revolutionists and worked for the Russian newspaper Svoboda (Liberty).

In 1873, he worked on the satiric newspaper "Alarm Clock" and published political fiction aimed at wealthy Bulgarians. He continued to...