Vasil Kanchov ( bg, Васил Кънчов, Vasil Kanchov) (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) 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 ...

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Biography

Vasil Kanchov was born in

Vratsa Vratsa ( bg, Враца ) is the largest city in northwestern Bulgaria and the administrative and economic centre of the municipality of Vratsa and Vratsa district. It is located about 112 km north of Sofia, 40 km southeast of Montana. ...

. Upon graduating from High school in Lom, Bulgaria, he entered the University of Harkov, then in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. During the

Serbo-Bulgarian War The Serbo-Bulgarian War or the Serbian–Bulgarian War ( bg, Сръбско-българска война, ''Srăbsko-bălgarska voyna'', sr, Српско-бугарски рат, ''Srpsko-bugarski rat'') was a war between the Kingdom of Serb ...

1885 he suspended his education and took part in the war. Later, he went on to pursue studies at universities in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, but in 1888 he interrupted his education again due to an illness. In the following years Kanchov was a Bulgarian teacher in Macedonia. He was a teacher in the

Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki The Sts. Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki ( bg, Солунска българска мъжка гимназия „Св. св. Кирил и Методий“, ''Solunska balgarska mazhka gimnazia „Sv. sv. Kiril i ...

(1888–1891), a director of Bulgarian schools in

Serres Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northe ...

district (1891–1892), a headmaster of Bulgarian Men's High School of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

(1892–1893), а chief school inspector of the Bulgarian schools in Macedonia (1894–1897). After 1898 Kanchov returned to Bulgaria and went into politics. In the beginning of 1902 he became an educational minister of Bulgaria, but was killed in his office by a psychopath. He travelled extensively after 1888, visiting and researching all over Macedonia. About him one of the founders of

IMRO The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

Ivan Hadzhinikolov Ivan Hadzhinikolov ( bg, Иван Хаджиниколов; (December 24, 1869, Kilkis, Ottoman Empire – July 9, 1934, Sofia, Bulgaria) was a Bulgarian revolutionary, leader of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia, Eastern and Western Thrac ...

, said that Kanchov once had claimed that he came as a teacher in Thessaloniki to Bulgarianize Macedonia. Hadzhinikolov replied that he was overestimating himself, as Macedonia had long been Bulgarian and that

Macedonian Bulgarians Macedonians or Macedonian Bulgarians ( bg, македонци or македонски българи), sometimes also referred to as Macedono-Bulgarians, Macedo-Bulgarians, or Bulgaro-Macedonians are a regional, ethnographic group of et ...

had been working for this for a long time.Петров, Тодор и др. ВМОРО през погледа на нейните основатели. София, Военно издателство, 2002, стр. 97, ISBN 9545092335.

Works

* *'' Orohydrography of Macedonia'' 1911 ("Орохидрография на Македония"). *''The region of Bitola, Prespa and Ohrid. Travel notes.''. 1890 ("Битолско, Преспа и Охридско. Пътни бележки"). *''The present and the past of the town of Veles''. 1892 ("Сегашното и недавнашното минало на гр. Велес").

Honours

Kanchov Peak on

Loubet Coast Loubet Coast is the portion of the west coast of Graham Land in Antarctic Peninsula, extending 158 km between Cape Bellue to the northeast and Bourgeois Fjord to the southwest. South of Loubet Coast is Fallières Coast, north is Graham Coast. ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

is named after Vasil Kanchov.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanchov, Vasil 1862 births 1902 deaths 1902 murders in Europe Bulgarian educators Assassinated Bulgarian politicians People murdered in Bulgaria Members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Members of the National Assembly (Bulgaria) 19th-century Bulgarian people People of the Serbo-Bulgarian War People from Vratsa Bulgarian geographers Bulgarian ethnographers Bulgarian murder victims 20th-century Bulgarian politicians Deaths by firearm in Bulgaria