Sun, Nov 08 2009

Sirens to sound on June 2 in honour of Botev

Mon, Jun 01 2009 16:29 CET 846 Views
Sirens to sound on June 2 in honour of Botev

Photo: Nadezhda Chipeva

On June 2 2009, sirens will sound at noon as Bulgaria honours one of its most beloved heroes and revolutionaries, the poet and rebel Hristo Botev (1848-76).

The sirens are a call to remember the day on which Botev died after several days of fighting against the Ottoman army in the days when Bulgaria was under Ottoman rule.

The sound of the sirens at noon marks the beginning of a minute of silence in honour of Botev and his comrades who fought on the last day of the April uprising in 1876.

The custom is that everyone should stand still for a minute until the sirens in Botev's memory stop.

Born in Kalofer in 1848 and brought up in the midst of the Bulgarian national revival, Botev was educated in Kalofer and later in Odessa, in today's Ukraine.

Influenced by the revolutionary rhetoric of Russian poets and intellectuals Alexander Herzen, Nikolai Chernishevski, and Nikolai Dobrolyubov, Botev then attempted to write his first stanzas of poetry, while his political views began to take shape.

Shortly after his return to Bulgaria in 1867, Botev was forced to leave for Romania because of his outspoken opposition to Ottoman rule. While living in exile there, he met other prominent Bulgarian patriots such as Vassil Levski and Lyuben Karavelov, whose views played a role in Botev's determination to devote his life to the liberation of his fatherland.

Gradually, the idea that only an armed insurgency against the oppressor would bring about freedom began to materialise in the formation of a guerrilla unit composed of Bulgarian emigres in Romania. Its action plan revolved around the expected uprising being organised through clandestine committees on Bulgarian territory.

When the ill-fated 1876 April Uprising in Bulgaria began, Botev disembarked at the head of a 205-strong guerrilla unit on the Danube shore near Kozloduy in north-west Bulgaria.

During clashes with Ottoman troops near Vola peak in the Vratsa region of the Stara Planina range, Botev was shot dead on June 2 1876.

Apart from his image as a selfless revolutionary, Botev has endured in history as a influential literary figure, having left one of the most patriotic and sentimentally-romantic poems reflecting on the life of poor and oppressed people, revolutionary struggle and unrequited love obstructed by patriotic duty.

Among some of his signature poetry works are To My Mother, Elegy, Struggle, and In the Tavern.
 

Write comment

Name:Comment:

Generate new code
Send your comment
Traffic comes to a standstill in Sofia

For one minute, in honour of one of Bulgaria's most beloved heroes and revolutionaries, Hristo Botev, traffic in Sofia came to a standstill.

Hristo Botev's poetry read in Washington, DC

A poem by the Bulgarian poet and revolutionary was read by the Bulgarian ambassador to the United States in the fifth annual Small Nations Poetry Reading.

READING ROOM: Turning point and tragedy

Cannons made of cherry tree wood and the chill spectacle of a cluster of skulls and bones in a church may be the most prominent symbols of Bulgaria's 1876 April Uprising. While the uprising itself failed because of poor co-ordination by the rebels and a relentless and ruthless backlash by the Ottoman authorities, then in their fifth century of rule over Bulgaria, the very brutality of the suppression of the revolt got international attention and was a contributing factor to the Russo-Turkish War in 1877/78 that opened the way for Bulgaria's liberation.

More in this category

Influenza update: Sofia schools suspend classes

Kindergartens to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and universities to decide for themselves whether to suspend classes.

Sliven police capture illegal immigrants bound for Greece

Five illegal immigrants from Iran and Iraq caught by Bulgarian police in Sliven.

Deputy head of veterinary service arrested on bribery charge

Leonid Lavchev sent an intermediary to collect 1000 leva from a dairy farm in Haskovo, investigators say

Former cabinet minister investigated for alleged embezzlement, malfeasance

Former labour minister Emilia Maslarova follows the example of Socialist party leader and former prime minister, Sergei Stanishev, in requesting that her MP immunity is lifted

Influenza update: sixth death in Bulgaria, Sofia schools face suspended classes

Health Minister: Influenza strain is not seasonal flu, it is swine flu. More than 100 000 Bulgarians are down with the H1N1 strain.