Zahariy Stoyanov ( bg, Захарий Стоянов; archaic: ) (1850 – 2 September 1889), born Dzhendo Stoyanov Dzhedev ( bg, Джендо Стоянов Джедев), 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 Macedo ...

n revolutionary, writer, and historian. A participant in the

April Uprising The April Uprising ( bg, Априлско въстание, Aprilsko vastanie) was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The regular Ottoman Army and irregular bashi-bazouk units brutally su ...

of 1876, he became its first historiographer with his book ''Memoirs of the Bulgarian Uprisings''. Stoyanov directed the

Unification of Bulgaria The Unification of Bulgaria ( bg, Съединение на България, ''Saedinenie na Balgariya'') was the act of unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and the province of Eastern Rumelia in the autumn of 1885. It was co-ordinated ...

and

Eastern Rumelia Eastern Rumelia ( bg, Източна Румелия, Iztochna Rumeliya; ota, , Rumeli-i Şarkî; el, Ανατολική Ρωμυλία, Anatoliki Romylia) was an autonomous province (''oblast'' in Bulgarian, '' vilayet'' in Turkish) in the Ott ...

in 1885, and was one of the leaders of the

People's Liberal Party The People's Liberal Party ( bg, Народнолиберална партия, ''Narodnoliberalna partiya'', NLP) was a political party in Bulgaria. History One of the four factions to emerge from the old Liberal Party, the party was establishe ...

until the end of his life.

Life

Zahariy Stoyanov was born in the family of the shepherd Stoyan Dalakchiev in the village of Medven close to

Sliven Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...

. He attended the religious school (after 1860 mutual and class school) in his native village between 1856 and 1862 to later become a shepherd in İnceköy (modern Topoli, Varna Province) and Podvis, Burgas Province (1866–1870). While being apprenticed to

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

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 ...

he joined the Rousse revolutionary committee and later worked as a clerk for

Baron de Hirsch Moritz Freiherr von Hirsch auf Gereuth (german: Moritz Freiherr von Hirsch auf Gereuth; french: Maurice, baron de Hirsch de Gereuth; 9 December 1831 – 21 April 1896), commonly known as Maurice de Hirsch, was a German Jewish financier and phila ...

's railway in modern

Simeonovgrad Simeonovgrad ( bg, Симеоновград ) is a town in the Haskovo Province of southern Bulgaria, located on both banks of the Maritsa River. Three bridges connect the town's two parts. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Sime ...

in 1873. He took part in the Stara Zagora Uprising of 1875 and was one of the "apostles" of the Plovdiv revolutionary district during the time of the April Uprising. After the uprising's suppression he was imprisoned in Plovdiv and later forcibly sent to Medven. He then illegally went to newly liberated

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 ...

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 ...

in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 Stoyanov was a member of the Tarnovo Regional Court in 1880. In 1881 he was a secretary of the Court of Appeal and a forensic examining magistrate in Rousse, and he was an employee of the Office of Justice of Eastern Rumelia in 1882–1885. Stoyanov headed the Bulgarian Secret Central Revolutionary Committee (BSCRC) which organized the Unification of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia in 1885. He lived in

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 ...

since 1886, where he actively participated in the activities of the People's Liberal Party. A deputy to the

National Assembly of Bulgaria The National Assembly ( bg, Народно събрание, Narodno sabranie) is the unicameral parliament and legislative body of the Republic of Bulgaria. The National Assembly was established in 1879 with the Tarnovo Constitution. Ordin ...

in 1886, he was an assistant chairman in 1887 and a chairman of the Bulgarian Parliament in 1888–1889. Zahariy Stoyanov died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

on 2 September 1889.

Literary activity

Stoyanov was the author of a number of articles and

feuilleton A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of french: feuillet, the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art critici ...

s in several newspapers and under various

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s. He was influenced by the

political journalism Political journalism is a broad branch of journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of politics and political science, although the term usually refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power. Political journa ...

Lyuben Karavelov Lyuben Stoychev Karavelov ( bg, Любен Стойчев Каравелов) (c. 1834 – 21 January 1879) was a Bulgarian writer and an important figure of the Bulgarian National Revival. Karavelov was born in Koprivshtitsa. He began his e ...

and important

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 journalists. Another sphere he worked in were the memoirs and biographies, describing the April Uprising, the lives of

Vasil Levski Vasil Levski ( bg, Васил Левски, spelled in old Bulgarian orthography as , ), born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (; 18 July 1837 – 18 February 1873), was a Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed t ...

Hristo Botev Hristo Botev ( bg, Христо Ботев, ), born Hristo Botyov Petkov (Христо Ботьов Петков; – ), was a Bulgarian revolutionary and poet. Botev is considered by Bulgarians to be a symbolic historical figure and nationa ...

Georgi Benkovski Georgi Benkovski ( bg, Георги Бенковски) (1843 – 12 May 1876) was the pseudonym of Gavril Gruev Hlatev (Гаврил Груев Хлътев), a Bulgarian revolutionary and leading figure in the organization and direction of the Bu ...

, and other important Bulgarian revolutionary leaders. His ''Memoirs of the Bulgarian Uprisings. Eyewitness Reports. 1870–1876'' is universally accepted as his best work, the product of many years of labour, facts collection, and rationalization. Zahari Point on

Robert Island Robert Island or Mitchells Island or Polotsk Island or Roberts Island is an island long and wide, situated between Nelson Island and Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Robert Island is located at . Surface area . T ...

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...

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 cont ...

is named for Zahariy Stoyanov.

Notes

References

Stoyanoff, Z. Pages from the autobiography of a Bulgarian insurgent. Transl. by M. W. Potter. London, 1913
*

External links

Zahari Stoyanov at Slovo.bg
(in Bulgarian) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoyanov, Zahariy 1850 births 1889 deaths People from Sliven Province 19th-century Bulgarian people People's Liberal Party politicians Members of the National Assembly (Bulgaria) Bulgarian revolutionaries April Uprising of 1876 Bulgarian biographers Bulgarian memoirists Bulgarian writers 19th-century memoirists