Миладинови

Dimitar and Konstantin Miladinov, as teachers, writers and public figures, were the first advocates for preserving and strengthening the national self-consciousness of the population of Macedonia, threatened during the Turkish rule by the assimilationist offensive of the Phanariotes. The Hellenizing policy of the Greek Patriarchate caused D. Miladinov, as early as 1852, when he himself was leading school education in Greek, to turn anxiously to Alexander the Exarch: "The six-eighths of Macedonia, which are populated by monolingual Bulgarians - he wrote to him - are all learning the Hellenic script and are called Hellenes by the Hellenes, except for the northern Slovenes, who are advancing in the Slovenian (language)", 1 Therefore, after the Crimean War, when the movement for the political and spiritual liberation of the Bulgarian people entered its decisive stage, Miladinov became one of the pioneers of the national awakening of Macedonia. As a teacher, with the active assistance of his younger brother Konstantin, Rayko Zhinzifov and other of his students and followers, he was the first to lead the struggle for the introduction of the Bulgarian language, which had been overthrown by the Phanariotes, into the school and the church, and with his exceptional activity against the denationalizing advances of the patriarchate, he established himself as a universally recognized figure in the Bulgarian revival. That is why, when in the January days of 1862 the news of the martyrdom of the two brothers was brought from Constantinople, it disturbed their compatriots from all corners of Bulgaria, and a number of Slavic periodicals, appreciating the value of their great work, widely popularized their names. Having received a solid education for their time in Greek educational institutions, which Konstantin subsequently enriched at the Faculty of Philology in Moscow, the Miladinovs perceptively understood the role of culture for the national revival of every nation. The rich literature of Greece, which excitingly reflected the life of ancient Hellas and the flowering of its civilization, not only does not disturb their national consciousness, but makes them look at the preserved material and spiritual values ​​of their people in order to document through them their historical past, the stability of their way of life and character. And if the Bulgarian literature of that time, whose development was hindered by the conditions of political and spiritual oppression, could only partially respond to this patriotic need, in the folk poetic work of Dimitar Konstantin Miladinovi discovered both the past, the present, and the future of his people. The collection of samples of folklore and their publication in the collection “Bulgarian Folk Songs” strengthened, enriched, and exalted their patriotic and democratic work.

In a letter to the newspaper "Nezavisimost" from 1874, the brothers Dimitar and Konstantin Miladinov are characterized as figures of national importance. Their names are placed alongside the names of Georgi Rakovski and Petko Slaveykov. Entire centuries and thousands of years will pass - the letter emphasizes - and their name will be pronounced with reverence in Bulgarian songs, Bulgarian fairy tales, and on the sedenki... Because "The Miladinovs are forerunners, and their followers are complements of that beginning, on which the first pages of the new Bulgarian church and civil freedom will be written..."1 Whether in this case we have a letter actually sent by an unknown patriot from Tarnovo, or whether it was also composed in the editorial office of "Nezavisimost" itself, cannot be established with certainty. However, one thing can be considered indisputable - that both Karavelov and Botev, as editors of the newspaper, at least agreed with the thoughts developed in the letter and, above all, with the assessment of the Miladinov brothers. And this is indicative enough. Moreover, these "forerunners" of the great struggle for national liberation were themselves clearly aware of the great historical task they had taken upon themselves. Therefore, they could not help but foresee the dangerous risks it posed to them as "tsarist enemies". That is why, when, before the bayonets of a numerous police convoy, he was brought to trial for the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Dimitar Miladinov did not doubt for a moment that he was being led to an open death. 3 And at the same time, it was not by chance that the younger brother made such a fervent patriotic confession to his noble patron Joseph Strossmayer: that "spreading enlightenment as much as possible and preparing the people for freedom" - he was ready to sacrifice, if necessary, himself, his blood and his life for his people. And they truly sacrificed them without hesitation, so that the hearts of grateful generations would live forever in the souls of the Navskis.

Nikola Traykov was one of our conscientious, hardworking and experienced translators from Greek and Modern Greek, a commentator and editor of archival materials from the figures of the Bulgarian Revival, although he sometimes got carried away and overloaded his notes on the documents with unnecessary details. In the second half of 1964, the publishing house of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences released his new, very valuable work on the Bulgarian Revivalists - "The Miladinovi Brothers, Correspondence, researched, commented on and edited by N. Traykov". The vast majority of these letters, scattered throughout various archives, were researched, translated and printed long ago in various periodicals and books, and used by all researchers of the Miladinovi brothers. Only 7 letters from D. Miladinov to Petar Sevastiyanov, 1 to Pavel Sevastiyanov and 1 from Konstantin Miladinov to Petar Sevastiyanov, although known for a long time, have been translated and printed for the first time in the present edition. That is why Veselin Traykov, who prepared the book for printing, and the responsible editors Acad. Iv. Snegarov and Prof. T. Vlahov, had to put in the title cover instead of the word and searched - collected. Now in the present new more complete edition of the letters, reviewed, clarified and updated in the Bulgarian translation, collected in one volume, they become more suitable for scientific research and will undoubtedly greatly facilitate future biographers of the Miladinov brothers. The letters from the rich, vast and very valuable archive of the Robevi brothers, also known and used, are now given clarified and in full translation. Attached to them are letters from other individuals in the same archive that relate to the tragic life of the two brothers in prison.