Dobri Popov Voynikov ( bg, Добри Попов Войников; 10 November 1833 – 27 March 1878) was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n teacher, playwright and journalist of the

Bulgarian National Revival The Bulgarian National Revival ( bg, Българско национално възраждане, ''Balgarsko natsionalno vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and tr, Bulgar ulus canlanması) sometimes called the Bu ...

. He is regarded as the father of modern Bulgarian

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and the first Bulgarian producer. Voynikov was among the founders of the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; bg, Българска академия на науките, ''Balgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated ''БАН'') is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy ...

. Voynikov was born in the city of Şumnu,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

(now

Shumen Shumen ( bg, Шумен, also romanized as ''Shoumen'' or ''Šumen'', ) is the tenth largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province. Etymology The city was first mentioned as ''Šimeonis'' in 1153 by t ...

, Bulgaria) in 1833 and studied at Sava Filaterov, Ivan Bogorov and Sava Dobropolodni's schools. He graduated from the

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School ( tr, Galatasaray Lisesi, french: Lycée de Galatasaray), established in what was then Constantinople and is now Istanbul, in 1481, is the oldest high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational in ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

in 1858 and became a teacher in Shumen, where he remained until 1864. In Shumen, he was an active public figure and took an active part in the Bulgarian Church struggle and the establishment of secular Bulgarian education. In 1864, he was forced to emigrate to the autonomous

Romanian Principalities The Danubian Principalities ( ro, Principatele Dunărene, sr, Дунавске кнежевине, translit=Dunavske kneževine) was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th ce ...

, settling first in

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2011 Romanian census there were 180,302 pe ...

and then moving to

Giurgiu Giurgiu (; bg, Гюргево) is a city in southern Romania. The seat of Giurgiu County, it lies in the historical region of Muntenia. It is situated amongst mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city ...

in 1873. In 1866, he was for a while part of the Secret Central Bulgarian Committee. He authored brochures in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, revealing the atrocities committed by the Ottoman authorities in the Bulgarian lands and enlightened the goals of the Bulgarian revolutionary movement. As an

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followi ...

in Romania Voynikov came to be involved in theatre: he founded a Bulgarian amateur theatrical company in Brăila in 1865 and headed it until 1870. For the first time in the history of Bulgarian theatre, women took part as actresses. He continued his involvement in theatre in Giurgiu,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

and Shumen. Voynikov authored several plays, both dramas and comedies: ''Princess Rayna'' (1866), ''Baptism of the

Preslav The modern Veliki Preslav or Great Preslav ( bg, Велики Преслав, ), former Preslav ( bg, link=no, Преслав; until 1993), is a city and the seat of government of the Veliki Preslav Municipality (Great Preslav Municipality, new B ...

Court'' (1868), ''Velislava, Bulgarian Princess'' (1870), ''The Enthronement of

Krum Krum ( bg, Крум, el, Κροῦμος/Kroumos), often referred to as Krum the Fearsome ( bg, Крум Страшни) was the Khan of Bulgaria from sometime between 796 and 803 until his death in 814. During his reign the Bulgarian territor ...

the Fearsome'' (1871), the famous '' The Misunderstood Civilization'' (1873), ''The Chorbadzhia'' (1881), ''A Physician in Spite of Himself'' (1884) and the unpublished ''Dimanka or True First Love''. His plays constitute the main repertoire of Bulgarian National Revival theatre and set some trends that were continued by the next generations of playwrights, such as

Vasil Drumev Kliment of Tarnovo (born Vasil Nikolov Drumev, bg, Васил Николов Друмев; c. 1841 – 10 July 1901, known by his title as Metropolitan Kliment of Turnovo), was a leading Bulgarian clergyman and politician. He was also a wr ...

and

Ivan Vazov Ivan Minchov Vazov ( bg, Иван Минчов Вазов; – 22 September 1921) was a Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright, often referred to as "the Patriarch of Bulgarian literature". He was born in Sopot, a town in the Rose Valley of ...

. In the early 1870s Voynikov was close to the right-wing Band of Virtues group who assisted him in obtaining

Russian citizenship Russian citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Russia. The primary law governing citizenship requirements is the federal law "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation", which came into force on 1 July 2002. ...

; thus, Voynikov could return to Bulgaria in 1874. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, he was the director of an orphanage in

Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...

, where he died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

References

* *

External links

''The Misunderstood Civilization''
by Dobri Voynikov {{DEFAULTSORT:Voynikov, Dobri Bulgarian writers Bulgarian educators Bulgarian dramatists and playwrights Bulgarian male writers Male dramatists and playwrights Members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences 1833 births 1878 deaths Deaths from typhus People from Shumen Galatasaray High School alumni 19th-century Bulgarian people 19th-century dramatists and playwrights 19th-century male writers