Bulgaria marks 178th anniversary of poet and revolutionary Hristo Botev

Events are taking place across Bulgaria to mark the 178th anniversary of the birth of Hristo Botev, the poet, journalist and revolutionary.

Botev was born in 1848 in Kalofer to teacher Botyo Petkov and his wife Ivanka. Although he lived for only 28 years, he is remembered as a national hero, alongside his fellow revolutionary, Vasil Levski. Hristo Botev is one of the finest Bulgarian poets of all times.

In October 1863, he went to Russia and enrolled as a private student at the Second Odessa Gymnasium, from which he was expelled in 1865. He then worked briefly as a teacher in the Bessarabian village of Zadunaevka.

From 1867, he lived in Romania, working as a typesetter in Braila, moving between towns and spending time with Vasil Levski. In 1872, he was arrested for revolutionary activity and imprisoned in Focșani. During this time, he wrote passionate articles for the revolutionary press. Following Levski's death in 1874, he briefly led the "Young Bulgarian" revolutionaries in Wallachia.

In 1875, he and Stefan Stambolov published the poetry collection Songs and Poems.

During the April Uprising of 1876, he led a detachment that captured the ship Radetzky. On 17 May, he and over 200 men landed at Kozloduy to support the fight for Bulgaria's liberation from the Ottoman Empire. He was killed on 20 May during a battle in the Vratsa Balkan Mountains.

Editor: Ivo Ivanov

Photocredit: museibotev.com, BTA