Prošek Brothers – Czechs who linked their lives with Bulgaria

Brothers Jiří and Bogdan Prošek are famous Czech engineers who came to Bulgaria in the mid-19th century and left their hearts forever in this country. It is amazing how great the contribution of these two people to the modern appearance of Bulgaria is, which we recalled during a special event in Sofia dedicated to the 120th anniversary of their death. The brothers died too young and in the same year, leaving many of their deeds for the benefit of Bulgaria unfinished.

The event was organized by their heirs. Although they do not bear the Prošek surname today, they guard the family memory and study in detail the life and work of their prominent predecessors. The ambassadors of the Czech Republic and Slovakia responded to the invitation to the commemorative ceremony in November, which included a documentary screening and Czech beer.
The brothers Georgi and Bogdan Prošek were remarkable personalities - builders, cultural and economic figures, public figures, who chose Bulgaria as their second homeland and the fate of the Bulgarian people as their personal destiny. They are also among the few foreigners who left a lasting mark on Bulgarian history and even changed their names to Bulgarian ones: Jiří became Georgi, while Theodor became Bogdan.

In 1869, Georgi Prošek arrived in Bulgaria and at the age of 23 joined as an engineer in the construction of the railway in Thrace - part of the "Eastern Railways". He settled in the village of Almali (today's Yabalkovo) together with other Czech and Polish engineers. In 1871, after becoming close to the local revolutionary committee, he founded the "Slavic Home" and under the guise of educational activities, created the first international secret revolutionary committee. In Almali he met Vasil Levski and that connected him even more closely with the liberation struggles. In order to support the cause, he delivered weapons on the pretext of guarding the railway and also carried the secret mail of the revolutionaries.

"I know about the family history from various sources. I learned a lot from the archives, which I researched thoroughly in the 1990s. I read everything that could be found in the State Archives and the old court archives. This was related to the possibility of restoring ownership of the properties nationalized after 1944," Nikola Tsokev said in an interview with Radio Bulgaria. He is one of the relatives and heir of the younger brother - Bogdan Prošek:

"The Prošek brothers, despite their 10-year age difference, were inseparable. They also had a sister, who stayed in Czechia, got married and went to the United States. Jiří Prošek came before the Liberation. When he was a student he met Ivan Drasov, brother-in-arms of Hristo Botev, who told him about the national liberation movement and the ideas of Rakovski and the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee. This motivated him and he arrived in Bulgaria already informed about the struggles here. Unlike him, his brother Bogdan came after the Liberation. In the village of Yabalkovo, a street is still named after the Prošek Brothers, there are memorial plaques and people keep the memory of them alive."

The Union of Brewers in Bulgaria has great respect not only for the Prošek brothers, but also for Czechs in general as entrepreneurs. "The Czech master craftsmen made the first beer in the country and for years trained a large part of the Bulgarian brewers and passed the craft into their hands," the heir to the Prošek family tells us. The chairwoman of the union, Ivana Radomirova, told us more:

"It is much more important to know that they actually brought a new, different European culture to Sofia, which immediately after the Liberation was a small city of only 10,000 people. And in fact, Georgi and Bogdan brewed the beer that many people assume at that time created a new modern urban culture, similar to that in Western Europe and especially in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But no less important is that they were among the builders of a new Bulgaria - the Prošek brothers did a lot for the city in terms of architecture. It is no coincidence that the author of both the Lion's Bridge and the Eagle's Bridge - emblematic of Sofia, is from the same family."

Photos: mzv.gov.cz/Ivan Shishiev, Embassy of Slovakia in Bulgaria, sanstefanoplaza.com, State Archives Agency, proshek.com