Konstantin Miladinov and the Croatian Bishop Strossmayer

The cooperation of our writers and men of letters from the Revival with cultural and socio-political figures in other Slavic countries is an important distinctive feature of their literary and public education activities. Lyuben Karavelov, Nesho Bonchev, Marin Drinov, Hristo Botev, Rayko Zhinzifov, Konstantin Miladinov and many more of their contemporaries studied in Russia and elsewhere, where they met prominent public figures, writers and publicists who provided them with valuable assistance. In their letters to them, our Revivalists made requests for services of various kinds, interceded for their compatriots who had gone to study in Russia or the Czech Republic, and expressed warm gratitude on their own behalf and on behalf of the Bulgarian people. The ties established between them in the period of our national revival are a completely natural and necessary phenomenon with undoubted positive consequences. In its turbulent socio-political and cultural development, the Bulgarian people attract the attention of other, more advanced peoples, receive the material and moral support of prominent Slavic scholars, scientists and statesmen, create works that are met with great interest in a number of countries. The aspiration of Bulgarian writers to establish close and lasting ties with more and more authoritative representatives of Slavism is actually an aspiration to connect our new literature and culture with the national culture of other peoples. With their most significant manifestations, the personal connections and acquaintances of our writers favor the development of native literature and culture, the affirmation of national traditions. This is their cultural and historical significance today.