Ivan Vedar ( bg, Иван Ведър), born Danail Nikolov, a.k.a. Yani Ingiliz, Johny English, Ovanes Efendi (equivalents of the name ''Ivan''), Denkooglu (after ''Deniu'', ''Danail''), was born in
Razgrad
Razgrad ( bg, Разград ) is a city in Northeastern Bulgaria in the valley of the Beli Lom river that falls within the historical and geographical region of Ludogorie (Deliorman). It is an administrative center of Razgrad Province.
Etymolog ...
, present-day
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 Macedo ...
in 1827. He is often referred to as the founder of
freemasonry
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
in Bulgaria.
He was proficient in many
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
,
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, and various
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
dialects.
Biography
During Danail's early years, his father, the architect Karastoyan, was requested to build a house for a local Turk, an important person. (Bulgaria was under
Ottoman rule
Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to:
Governments and dynasties
* Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924
* Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...
then.) The requester refused to pay, a row flared up with knives taken out, and, in order to save his father, Danail killed the Turk. What followed was a change of his name and life under cover. He studied in a college in
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, where he picked up many languages, he worked as a sailor on an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
ship, travelling between
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, he was an interpreter in Turkish institutions in
Tsarigrad, he taught languages in
İzmir
İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...
to the sons of Turkish notables (including
Midhat Pasha
Ahmed Şefik Midhat Pasha ( ota , احمد شفيق مدحت پاشا, 18 October 1822 – 26 April 1883) was an Ottoman democrat, kingmaker and one of the leading statesmen during the late Tanzimat period. He is most famous for leading the O ...
). During the
Crimean war
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
he travelled over
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
harbours, possibly as a
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n spy. He continued his studies in the medical school in
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 ...
, where he got his pseudonym ''Vedriy'' or ''Vedar'' (meaning ''cheerful'') from the professors Dr Peter Protić and Dr Georgi Atanasović, because of his easy-going temper.
In 1863 in the
Tsarigrad branch of ''Oriental Lodge'' he was initiated into masonry. He managed to reach the 33rd degree, the last one, according to the ''Old and Accepted Scottish Rite''. An even more colourful lifestyle followed — he worked on the first Bulgarian railway
Rousse
Ruse (also transliterated as Rousse, Russe; bg, Русе ) is the fifth largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, approximately south of ...
–
Varna, then as a trade representative in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, he married the daughter of a respected architect from Rousse, he taught at
Robert College, he was a correspondent for different European newspapers.
Midhat Pasha
Ahmed Şefik Midhat Pasha ( ota , احمد شفيق مدحت پاشا, 18 October 1822 – 26 April 1883) was an Ottoman democrat, kingmaker and one of the leading statesmen during the late Tanzimat period. He is most famous for leading the O ...
appointed him a "secretary of the external correspondence", which lets him frequently keep in touch with foreign diplomats. He provided financial aid to some uprisings and the revolutionary movement in Rousse, among whose members he had already established friendly relations. He interceded for
Zahari Stoyanov to become a librarian in the
Zora cultural club. His lobbying lifted off the decision of
Delaver Pasha to
massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
a great part of the population in Rousse in 1877.
After the
Liberation of Bulgaria
The Liberation of Bulgaria is the historical process as a result of the Bulgarian Revival. In Bulgarian historiography, the liberation of Bulgaria refers to those events of the Tenth Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) that led to the re-establishme ...
, Ivan Vedar installed the first Bulgarian regular masonic lodge ''Balkan Star'' (french: Etoile des Balkans) in Rousse in 1880, among whose members are
Nikola Obretenov, Zahari Stoyanov,
Ilarion Dragostinov,
Toma Kardzhiev, and which was visited incognito by the king-to-be
Alexander Batenberg
Alexander Joseph ( bg, Александър I Батенберг; 5 April 185717 November 1893), known as Alexander of Battenberg, was the first prince ('' knyaz'') of the Principality of Bulgaria from 1879 until his abdication in 1886. The Bul ...
. Later, new lodges were founded in
Varna (where the first ''Great lodge'' was located for a short time),
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
, and some other cities, but in 1887 Vedar was forced to "put asleep" all lodges, because of the danger that their activity gets spoiled by political and interpersonal struggles, so common in the young and inexperienced country.
In the end of his life, he assigned all of his property to the state, saying he had given enough to his children — education and upbringing. The bones of Ivan Vedar were moved to the
Pantheon of National Revival Heroes, and a monument in his honour was put nearby. Modern masonic organisations in Bulgaria issue a medal with his name.
The event in Rousse in 1877
In the end of August, Russian forces fiercely attacked the Turkish quarter in Rousse, and almost completely razed it. That enraged the Turkish governors, wnho decided to massacre the whole Bulgarian population in Rousse — all of them were taken out in the field near the Vladikova Bahcha (the present ''Youth's Park''), where they spent several days and nights. Vedar managed to slip out of his surrounded house by paying a bag of gold. He dropped in at the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
consul
Enrique de Gubernatis, together with whom they invited the influential Turk
hajji
Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since i ...
Mehmed Alia to ascend with them to the
Leventa hill, in order to lobby with
Delaver Pasha, the commander of the
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ian forces positioned around the city.
When they came in at the pasha's, the three of them made the masonic sign with a hand. Realizing that he was talking to a higher-ranking brother, he promised Ivan brotherly cooperation. When the delegation came down from Leventa, they found the population surrounded by the regular Egyptian army, which guarded them from the
Cherkez and
bashi-bazouk
A bashi-bazouk ( ota, باشی بوزوق , , , roughly "leaderless" or "disorderly") was an irregular soldier of the Ottoman army, raised in times of war. The army chiefly recruited Albanians and Circassians as bashi-bazouks, but recruits ...
soldiers. The result was an exodus from a secure death for 4000 Rousse citizens and of setting the city ablaze.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vedar, Ivan
1827 births
1898 deaths
People from Razgrad
Bulgarian Freemasons