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200 years since the birth of the genius of the Bulgarian revolution Georgi Rakovski

Photo: Library

April 14 is the date of birth of the great Revival Period figure, revolutionary and first ideologue of the struggle for the liberation of Bulgariafrom the five centuries of Ottoman Rule, Georgi Stoykov Rakovski. It is unlikely that in the Bulgarian 19th century there was another person who combined in one the struggle for church and national independence, for national education and literature. "Rakovski is an unusually large figure in the post-Crimean war era. A person of impulsive spirit, strong-willed nature, a fanatical patriot, he leads a tumultuous life doomed to the ideal - the Freedom of Bulgaria,” wrote Mikhail Arnaudov, the greatest researcher of Rakovski’s life and legacy.

Rakovski wrote the first in revolutionary poem in Bulgaria, "Gorksi patnik" (Forest Traveller), published in 1857. In it, the struggle of the haiduts is presented as a phenomenon in the historical life of the Bulgarian nation. A year later, Rakovski created the “First Plan for the Liberation of Bulgaria”.

He was also the founder of the newspaper "Dunavski lebed" (Danube Swan), which marked the beginning of the Bulgarian revolutionary press.

Georgi Rakovski founded the First Bulgarian Legion /1862/ - a military unit consisting of about 600 young Bulgarians, some of them students at that time in Odessa, Vienna and Belgrade. The legion included voivodes, former haiduts and future organizers of the national revolution, including Vasil Levski, Stefan Karadzha, Ivan Karshovski, Ilio Markov and others. Georgi Rakovski remains in the memory of Bulgarians with his call for an uprising from August 1, 1862. In it he writes: “Let no one wait for others to set him free. Our freedom depends on us.”

Georgi Rakovski remains a symbol of patriotism and enlightenment in today's Bulgaria with his work and forward-thinking about the people and the fatherland. It is no coincidence that most Bulgarian schools in Bulgaria and around the world bear his name. 

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Radio Bulgaria History and religion    Dunavski lebed First Bulgarian Legion Georgi Rakovski National Liberation National Revival Period Ottoman Rule Rakovski revolutionary

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