Zahari Stoyanov (1850-1889)

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Witness to the reunification: author Zahari Stoyanov
On September 6 Bulgaria marks the reunification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia in 1885. This unification put an end to the historic injustice of dividing Bulgaria into two parts after its liberation form Ottoman rule. One of the chief figures of the unifying action was prominent revolutionary, public figure and writer Zahari Stoyanov.

“Zahari Stoyanov was a public and political figure that took active part in Bulgaria’s social life in two different eras," Plamen Mitev, a historian from Sofia University Climent of Ochrida explains. "On the one hand he took part in the last stage of the national liberation movement from the mid-70s of the 19th century. On the other – he was very active in the liberation struggles of the Bulgarians in Eastern Rumelia for its accession to the Principality of Bulgaria.”
Zahari Stoyanov was born in 1850 in the village of Medven, near the town of Sliven in the Balkan range. Until the age of 16 he used to help his father with farm work, but after that, lead by the will to study he went first to Varna, on the Black Sea and then in Russe, Northern Bulgaria. There he fell upon the “Zora” reading club where he got in contact with some of the most prominent local young people who took part in all the following attempts in the 19th century for liberating Bulgaria. Zahari Stoyanov was part of the September 1875 Stara Zagora uprising but it ended with no success. By the end of the same year, however, a new uprising was prepared that turned to be the most successful one in Bulgarian history as it kindled the Russo-Turkish war, which resulted in the liberation of Bulgaria. The April uprising burst out in 1876 and one of the prominent figures in it was Zahari Stoyanov.
“He got closer to the actual leader of the uprising, Georgi Benkovski and was right next to him throughout these crucial events," Plamen Mitev goes on to say. "Zahari Stoyanov also witnessed Benkovski’s last days. Only by chance did he escape the ambush in which Benkovski perished. For several days he tried to find his way north to Rumania, but was caught and arrested. He was dragged from one prison to another but was finally released as no direct evidence of his having ever been part of the uprising was to be found. He stayed in his native village where the liberating Russo-Turkish war found him.”
After the opening of the war Zahari Stoyanov made the acquaintance with one of the survived rebels, Stefan Stambolov and helped in his activities as one of the most active participants in the Russo-Turkish war. After the liberation in 1878 Zahari Stoyanov’s name was mainly related o the efforts for bringing back together Eastern Rumelia and the Principality of Bulgaria. For the purpose, at the beginning of 1885 he initiated the inauguration in Plovdiv, Southern Bulgaria the “Secret Bulgarian Revolution Committee”. Zahari Stoyanov worked out the programme of the committee and played a key role among the ideologists of the Unification. It was brought to a successful end on September 6 1885. That put an end to Zahari Stoyanov’s revolutionary years.
After the Liberation Zahari Stoyanov was first a clerk in the cities of Tarnovo, Russe and Plovdiv, Associate Professor Mitev further explains. In 1886 he settled in Sofia and started up a political career. He was elected Member of the National Assembly. In 1887 he became deputy chairman and later chairman of the 5th National Assembly. He was also elected member of the Grand National Assembly, which established Ferdinand as Ruler of Bulgaria. In that period Zahari Stoyanov stood out as one of the key figures in Bulgarian history after the Unification. He was direct participant in all crucial political events in the period 1886-89. He died during a visit to Paris on September 2, 1889.”
Even though self-taught, Zahari Stoyanov was a very talented journalist and writer. He wrote and edited various papers. Special attention deserves the “Borba” paper. It brought together all Unification leaders in Eastern Rumelia in 1885. Gradually Stoyanov made a name not only as a gifted journalist but a versatile writer, too.
“He wrote biographic articles about major Bulgarian revolutionaries and heroes from the April uprising, the key figures of the liberation movement, Plamen Mitev further tells us. In Bulgarian literary history the name of Zahari Stoyanov has remained mainly with his “Notes on Bulgarian Uprisings”, a large volume he wrote in the 80s of the 19th century. With that extensive and detailed work he opened a new page in Bulgarian memoir writing. He tried to reconstruct the true stories and the character of the events of Bulgaria’s national liberation movement. We should also point to his cherished dream – to pas on the memory about the greatest personalities of the age of Bulgaria’s Revival. His “Notes” have been read over and over again by generations of Bulgarians ever since and are among Bulgaria’s most popular books. If we have to point to a shortcoming of that work, however, we should say that Zahari Stoyanov, just like anybody else has tried to express his personal attitudes and they sometimes differ from objective historic truth. In this sense he appeared as a down-to-earth complex personality carrying his good sides, but also his biases” historian Plamen Mitev says in conclusion.

Written by: Denitza Manova
English version: Iva Letnikova

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