--------------------------------------- The Miladinov Brothers Among the first Bulgarian martyrs, who gave their liberty and then their lives for the Bulgarian people were the Miladinov brothers, Dimitar and Konstantin. The two brothers were imprisoned because they taught their people to love their nation and advised the people to drive out the Greek clergy and to demand an independent Bulgarian Church from the Sultan. The Miladinov bothers were born in Strouga, Macedonia and like our first apostles, Cyril and Methodius, they taught our brothers, the Macedonian Bulgarians, to love and respect their nationality and faith.... L Karavelov in Svoboda, Bucharest, No.11, March 13 1871 Of all the great men that Macedonia gave to the Bulgarian Revival, perhaps the greatest, and certainly the most interesting are the two Miladinov brothers. Talented and versatile, these two men were educators, poets, folklorists and advocates for Bulgarian cultural freedom. Their efforts effectively prevented the total assimilation of our people and as a result left us with a history and culture we can take pride in. Perhaps the height of their achievement was reached in June 1861 when their "Collection Of Bulgarian Folk Songs" was published. Sadly, they did not find it easy to complete their task. Dimitar and Konstantin came from a large and impoverished family. Their father, Risto, a poor pottery maker, had six sons and two daughters. Both struggled to earn a living. Dimitar had the additional responsibility of supporting his wife and five children. To make matters worse, they were pursued by the authorities, often at the instigation of the Greek clergy, who opposed the use of any language but Greek by the Christian population. Finally, they paid with their lives for their dedication to their people. They did not live to see the great success of their work or the progress of the Renaissance in Macedonia. In her memoirs ("An Era and a People", page 49), Tsareva Miladinova, Dimitar's youngest daughter recalls with pride the activities of her generation. Some of its members, such as Grigor P'rlichev and Kouzman Shapkarev were students of her father. Konstantin Miladinov After his graduation from the Greek institute at Yanina and the University of Athens, where he studied literature, at the instigation of his brother, Dimitar, and following the example of many young Bulgarians of that period, in 1856, Konstantin went to Russia. Reaching Odessa, and short of money, the Bulgarian Society in that city financed his trip to Moscow. Konstantin enrolled at the University to study Slavic philology. In the early days of the 19th century, Russia was the richest well from which a young Bulgarian intellectual could derive knowledge in a language close to his own and among people who sympathized with the sufferings of the oppressed Bulgarians. While at the University of Athens, he was exposed, exclusively, to the teachings and thinking of ancient and modern Greek scholars. In Moscow, he came in contact with prominent Slavic writers and intellectuals, scarcely mentioned in any of the Greek textbooks. For young and impressive Konstantin, this was like stepping from one world into another. It did not take long for him to make friends with some of the most prominent Slavists and to plead with them for help to publish the huge collection of Bulgarian folk songs which he had brought with him. But while Moscow captivated him with its ancient beauty and its history, he could not suppress the burning desire to see the River Volga. At the time of his youth, the universal belief in his homeland was that the Proto-Bulgarians had camped on the banks of the legendary river, had crossed it on their way to the Balkans and the origin of their name had come from the Holy Russian River - Volga. Reaching its shores, Konstantin stood before it in awe, fascinated and almost hypnotized, unable to utter a word, his eyes following the flowing waters. A poet at heart, he poured his exaltations in a letter to one of his friends: O, Volga, Volga! What memories you awake in me, how you drive me to bury myself in the past! hi your waters, Volga. I, and my friend, also a Bulgarian, we dived and proudly told ourselves that, at this very moment, we received our true baptismal. Do not laugh if I tell you that my friends washed their heads in the Volga and one of them picked up a few rocks, just like the pilgrims brought home little stones from the River Jordan. Volga! How many different tribes have passed each other on your shores! How many great events have taken place around you. And from all the other people who have tasted your waters, only we (meaning the Bulgarians) are the only ones who have preserved your name (The Russian Journal "Rodnoe Plemya II", page 287) If Konstantin Miladinov had never uttered a single word proclaiming his Bulgarian nationality, this letter alone is an undisputable proof of his strong national feelings to place him in the pantheon of those heroes and martyrs who devoted their entire life to the struggle for the Bulgarian National Revival. His efforts to find a sponsor for the publication of the songs failed. Some attribute this failure to the fact that all of the songs were written with Greek letters. This failure prompted him to seek help elsewhere and he approached the Croatian Catholic Bishop of Djakovo, Joseph Strossmayer (1815-1905), well known for his generosity and devotion to Slavic culture. A well-educated man, the Bishop was a Croatian patriot and highly respected by the church and civil authorities. Konstantin established contact with Strossmayer and early in 1860, when he heard that the Bishop would be in Vienna, he left Moscow and headed for the Austrian capital to meet his future benefactor. At the very first meeting, Bishop Strossmayer was favourably impressed with the young Bulgarian patriot and intellectual. Holding the collection of songs in his hands, the Bishop looked at Miladinov and said: Miladinov, let me tell you one thing: If you want me to publish your songs, you must, once and for all, disavow the Greek letters. The Greeks have caused you, the Bulgarians, so much harm and misery: Cast away these foreign letters and use the Slavic (Cyrillic) alphabet (The above quotation is from a letter by Bishop Strossmayer sent to "Slavyanska Beseda" in Sofia in 1885) During all this time when he was dealing with Bishop Strossmayer and getting the book ready for the printer, Konstantin did not know that his brother, Dimitar, was brought in chains to Istanbul and thrown into the underground dungeon of the police station. The book, dedicated to his benefactor, Bishop Strossmayer, was printed in Zagreb. It was ready in June of 1861 and Konstantin left the Croatian city a month later. On the way to Strouga, he stopped for a few days in Belgrade. Rakovsky, with whom he wanted to confer, was not there, but from other Bulgarian patriots, he learned of the arrest of his brother. In his desire to see him and, if possible, free his brother, he headed for Istanbul. Denounced by the Greek Patriarchate as a dangerous Russian agent, he was arrested on August 5, 1861. It is not clear whether he was placed in the same cell with his brother, or whether the two brothers saw each other. Dimitar Miladinov His father having worked for a short time in Austria, and exposed to the system of universal education and freedom, returned home with the burning desire that at least one of his sons should receive a solid education, so that he could educate others. With the assistance from friends, Dimitar was sent to Yanina, at that time, a prominent Greek educational center. The talented youngster accounted himself well. He had absorbed a lot of the Greek culture, a lot of their classics, and became proficient in the Greek language. But the hopes of the Hellenes were dashed. Like most of the active participants in this struggle for national revival, once back home, he translated prayers into the local Bulgarian language using Greek letters. As teacher in the local schools, or wherever he happened to be, he used the same system to teach the children the history of the Bulgarians, to instil in their young hearts, love and devotion for their own national heritage. In his spare time,he visited the surrounding villages to write down old folk songs which he considered as one of the most precious treasures of the people. His fame had gone far and wide all over Macedonia. Contracts and invitations to teach in other cities poured in. For the Greek Bishop in Ohrid, it had become quite evident that Dimitar Miladinov represented a great obstacle in his plans for Hellenization and was, therefore, a dangerous man. In 1857, D. Miladinov was invited to teach in the town of Koukoush, some 30 kilometers from Soloun, which the Greeks considered their bastion in Macedonia. In spite of the proximity to this Hellenic centre, Koukoush had already cast away the Greek language and books from their school and substituted them with Bulgarian textbooks, some of which they had received from Constantinople. Miladinov accepted their offer with pride and joy and his arrival in this strong Bulgarian fortress was an occasion for jubilation. Taking over the school, he immediately revised the program to accelerate the teaching of the Bulgarian language and history. According to some reports of that time, the schools stayed open until midnight to accommodate the young men coming from the surrounding villages and those of the local people who were working at various trades. At least once a week, he held open meetings at which he lectured on the past history of the Bulgarian nation and the need to open schools in as many places as possible. One market day, when the town was crowded with people from all around Koukoush, the students from the upper classes gathered groups and lectured on the need to fight Hellenism in using the Bulgarian language in their schools and churches. For all practical purposes, Koukoush had cast away the Hellenic spiritual and educational yoke. At the instigation of Dimitar Miladinov, and with the full approval of the city fathers, in 1858, the use of the Greek language was banished from the churches and substituted with the old Bulgarian Slavonic. The jubilation of the people was indescribable. Many cried because of joy. In 1859 when he received word that Ohrid had officially demanded, from the Turkish government, the restoration of their ancient Bulgarian Patriarchate, the throne of St Clement, Dimitar Miladinov left Koukoush and headed for Ohrid to help. He became one of the leaders in this fight. Despite his preoccupation, he felt the necessity to keep the leaders in Istanbul informed of the situation and struggle in Macedonia. In a letter to "Tsarigradski Vestnik" of February 28, 1860, he reports: In the entire country of Ohrid, there is not a single Greek family, except three or four villages of Vlahs. All of the rest of the population is pure Bulgarian Angered by this bold act of the citizens of Ohrid and their leader, the infamous Greek Bishop Milletios denounced Miladinov as a Russian agent and on February 16, 1861, he was arrested, put in chains and sent to Istanbul. A few months later, he would be joined in the underground police dungeon by his younger brother, Konstantin.