The Miladinov Brothers (Vorlage:Lang-bg, Bratya Miladinovi; Vorlage:Lang-mk, Braќa Miladinovci), Dimitar Miladinov (1810-1862) and Konstantin Miladinov (1830-1862), were poets and folklorists from Macedonia, authors of an important collection of folk songs, Bulgarian Folk Songs. In their writings, they self identified exclusively as Bulgarians,[1] though besides contributing to Bulgarian literature, in the Republic of Macedonia they are also thought to have laid the foundation of the Macedonian literary tradition.[2]
The collection Bulgarian Folk Songs includes a total of 665 songs and 23,559 verses. Another famous poem by Konstantin Miladinov is Tǎga za Jug, that he wrote during his stay in Russia. Their hometown hosts the international Struga Poetry Evenings festival in their honour including a poetry award named after them. The Miladinov brothers mark the highest achievement of the Bulgarian folklore studies in the period of the Bulgarian National Revival with the richness and variety of the songs.
Short Biography of Dimitar Miladinov
Dimitar Miladinov was born in Struga, Ottoman Empire, in 1810. His mother was Sultana and father Hristo Miladinov. With the assistance from friends, Dimitar was sent to Yanina, at that time, a prominent Greek educational center. He had absorbed a lot of the Greek culture, a lot of their classics, and became proficient in the Greek language. In 1829, he stayed in the Saint Naum monastery in Ohrid to continue his education, and in 1830 he became a teacher in Ohrid. Meanwhile, his father died, and his brother was born - Konstantin Miladinov. The Miladinov family had eight children — six boys and two girls: Dimitar (the oldest), Atanas, Mate, Apostol, Naum, Konstantin, Ana and Krsta. In 1832, he moved to Durrës, Albania, working in the local trade chamber. From 1833 through 1836 he studied in Ioannina, preparing to become teacher. Eventually he returned to Ohrid and began teaching.
In 1836, he introduced a new teaching method in his classroom. He enriched the school programme with the inclusion of new subjects, such as philosophy, arithmetics, geography, Old Greek and Greek literature, Latin and French. Soon he became popular and respected among his students and peers. After two years, he left Ohrid and returned to Struga. In the period from 1840 to 1842, he was a teacher in Kilkis, today in Greece. He became active in the town's social life, strongly opposing the phanariotes. At the instigation of Dimitar Miladinov, and with the full approval of the city fathers, in 1858, the use of the Greek language was banished from the churches and substituted with the Old Bulgarian. In 1859 he received word that Ohrid had officially demanded, from the Turkish government, the restoration of Bulgarian Patriarchate. Then Dimitar Miladinov left Kukush and headed for Ohrid to help. There he translated Bible texts in the Bulgarian language (considered in the Republic of Macedonia as Macedonian). Dimitar Miladinov tried to introduce the Bulgarian language into the Greek school in Prilep in 1856 causing an angry reaction from the Greeks. In a letter to "Tsarigradski Vestnik" of February 28, 1860, he reports: "…In the entire country of Ohrid, there is not a single Greek family, except three or four villages of Vlahs. All of the rest of the population is pure Bulgarian.…"[3] Angered by this act of the citizens of Ohrid and their leader, the Greek Bishop Miletos denounced Miladinov as a Russian agent. He was accused of spreading pan-Slavic ideas and was imprisoned in Istanbul later to be joined by his supporting brother Konstantin. In January 1862 both brothers died in prison from typhus.[4]
Short Biography of Konstantin Miladinov
Konstantin Miladinov was the youngest son in the family of the potter Hristo Miladinov. He was born in 1830 same as his brother in Struga. He studied in a few different places throughout his life but the very first teacher was his older brother Dimitar. After his graduation from the Greek institute at Yanina and the University of Athens, where he studied literature, at the instigation of his brother, Dimitar, and following the example of many young Bulgarians of that period, in 1856, Konstantin went to Russia. Reaching Odessa, and short of money, the Bulgarian Society in that city financed his trip to Moscow. Konstantin enrolled at the Moscow University to study Slavic philology. While at the University of Athens, he was exposed, exclusively, to the teachings and thinking of ancient and modern Greek scholars. In Moscow, he came in contact with prominent Slavic writers and intellectuals, scarcely mentioned in any of the Greek textbooks. But while Moscow he could not suppress his desire to see the River Volga. At the time of his youth, the universal belief was that the Bulgars had camped on the banks of the legendary river, had crossed it on their way to the Balkans and the origin of the name Bulgarians had come from the Russian River - Volga. Reaching its shores, Konstantin stood before it in awe, fascinated, unable to utter a word, his eyes following the flowing waters. A poet at heart, he poured his exaltations in a letter to one of his friends: "…O,Volga, Volga! What memories you awake in me, how you drive me to bury myself in the past! Hi are your waters, Volga. I and my friend, also a Bulgarian, we dived and proudly told ourselves that, at this very moment, we received our true baptismal.…"[5] While in Russia he helped his older brother Dimitar in editing the materials for the collection of Bulgarian songs, that have been collected by Dimitar in his field work. The collection was subsequently published in Croatia with the support of the bishop Josip Strosmayer, who was one of the patrons of Slavonic literature at that time. Konstantin established contact with Josip Juraj Strossmayer and early in 1860, when he heard that the Bishop would be in Vienna, he left Moscow and headed for the Austrian capital to meet his future benefactor. Very glad that he printed the book, on the way back he received the bad news that his brother was jailed. With the thought of helping his brother he went in Tsarigrad. Denounced by the Greek Patriarchate as a dangerous Russian agent, he was arrested. It is not clear whether he was placed in the same cell with his brother, or whether the two brothers saw each other. Very soon both of them became ill and in matter of few days died.
Significance
The two brother's educationalist activity and tragic death ensured them a worthy place in the history of the Bulgarian cultural movement and the Bulgarian national liberation struggle in the 19th century. The brothers are known also for their keen interest in the Bulgarian folk poetry as a result of which the remarkable collection "Bulgarian Folk Songs" appeared. The songs were collected between 1854 and 1860 mostly by the elder brother, Dimitar, who taught in several Macedonian towns (Ohrid, Struga, Prilep, Kukush and Bitola) and was able to put into writing the greater part of the 660 folk songs. The songs from the Sofia District were supplied by the Sofia schoolmaster Sava Filaretov. Those from Panagyurishte area, were recorded by Marin Drinov and Nesho Bonchev, but were sent by Vasil Cholakov. Raiko Zhinzifov, who went to Russia with the help of D. Miladinov, was another collaborator. Dimiter and Konstantin Miladinovi were aware of the great significance of the folklore in the period of the National Revival and did their best to collect the best poetic writing which the Bulgarian people had created throughout the ages.
Their activity in this field is indicative of the growing interest shown towards folklore by the Bulgarian intelligentsia in the middle of the 19th century - by Vasil Aprilov, Nayden Gerov, Georgi Rakovski, Petko Slaveykov, etc. The collecting was highly assessed by its contemporaries - Lyuben Karavelov, Nesho Bonchev, Ivan Bogorov, Kuzman Shapkarev, Rayko Zhinzifov and others. The collection was met with great interest by foreign scholars. The Russian scholar Izmail Sreznevsky pointed out in 1863: "…It can be seen by the published collection that the Bulgarians far form lagging behind other peoples in poetic abilities even surpass them with the vitality of their poetry…" Soon parts of the collection were translated in Czech, Russian and German. Elias Riggs, an American linguist in Constantinople, translated nine songs into English and sent them to the American Oriental Society in Princeton, New Jersey. In a letter from in June 1862, Riggs wrote: "…The whole present an interesting picture of the traditions and fancies prevailing among the mass of the Bulgarian people…" The collection compiled by the Miladinov brothers also played a great role in the development of the modern Bulgarian literature, because its songs as poetic models for the outstanding Bulgarian poets - Ivan Vazov, Pencho Slaveikov, Kiril Hristov, Peyo Yavorov, etc.[6][7]
Controversy
Miladinov Brothers called their language Bulgarian, the Slavs in Macedonia Bulgarians and self-identified as Bulgarians. Also in some of the collected songs from Macedonia the authentic texts refer to the characters as Bulgarians.[8] Still more, Miladinov were regarded as Bulgarian poets by their contemporaries and are regarded as such from many researchers until today.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Nevertheless, the official historiography of the Republic of Macedonia proclaims them as "Macedonians" who contributed to the development of the Macedonian language. That view is shared by some researchers and publicists who maintain that during the Ottoman period the term Bulgarian was not used to designate ethnic affiliation, rather to designate different sociocultural categories.[19] They refer to Miladinov Brothers as Macedonians.[20][21][22][23][24][25]
While the Slavic ethnic group in Macedonia was until the 1940s very widely considered to be part of the Bulgarian people, the current state doctrine of the Republic of Macedonia is that this population is, and always was, distinct and unrelated to the Bulgarians. The book Bulgarian Folk Songs has been re-issued in the Republic of Macedonia under an edited name, Collection; the references to Macedonia in the foreword as "Western Bulgaria" have been removed, and other references to "Bulgaria" and "Bulgarian language" have been replaced by "Macedonia" and "Macedonian language" because most of the songs in this collection are in dialects spoken in Macedonia. Also some of the geographic references linking to Bulgaria were changed, as "Danube" with "Vardar", because the oral folklore is delimiter of the ethnic boundaries too. The Macedonian State Archive in cooperation with the Soros Foundation in Macedonia displays a photocopy of the original book cover where the text does not state "Bulgarian Folk Songs", but simply "Folk Songs" (the upper part of the page showing "Bulgarian" has been cut off).[26] There is a similar case with the national museum of the Republic of Macedonia which refuses to display original works by the two brothers, because of the Bulgarian labels on some of them.[27]
However in 1999 the organization of the Bulgarians in the Republic of Macedonia "Radko" issued in Skopje the original version of the folk song collection. The book triggered a wave of other publications, among which the memoirs of the Greek bishop of Kastoria Germanos Karavangelis, in which he talked about the Greek-Bulgarian Church struggle at the beginning of the 20th century, as well the Report of the Carnegie Commission on the causes and conduct of the Balkan Wars from 1913. Neither of these addressed the Slavic population of Macedonia as Macedonian Slavs, but as Bulgarians. Being the first publications to question the official Macedonian position of the existence of a distinct Macedonian Slav identity going back to the time of Alexander the Great, they triggered a reaction of shock in Macedonian public opinion. The scandal after the publication of Bulgarian Folk Songs resulted in the retirement of the Macedonian Minister of Culture, Dimitar Dimitrov.[28]
Honour
Miladinovi Islets near Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica are named for the brothers.
See also
External links
Reference and Footnotes
- ↑ In their correspondence both Brothers self identified exclusively as Bulgarians, see: Братя Миладинови – преписка. Издирил, коментирал и редактирал Никола Трайков (Българска академия на науките, Институт за история. Издателство на БАН, София 1964); in English: Miladinovi Brothers - Correspondence. Collected, commented and redacted from Nicola Traykov, (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Historical Institute, Sofia 1964.)
- ↑ Some researchers and publicists argue that during the Ottoman period the term Bulgarian was not used to designate ethnic affiliation, rather to designate different sociocultural categories, see: The Macedonian Conflict by Loring M. Danforth.
- ↑ Трайков, Н. Братя Миладинови.Преписка.1964 с. 43, 44
- ↑ Victor Roudometof: Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria and the Macedonian question. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, ISBN 0-275-97648-3, S. 91.
- ↑ Петър Динеков, Делото на братя Милядинови. (Българска акдемия на науките, 1961 г.)
- ↑ Люлка на старата и новата българска писменост. Aкадемик Емил Георгиев, (Държавно издателство Народна просвета, София 1980)
- ↑ Петър Динеков. Делото на братя Миладинови.(Българска акдемия на науките, 1961 г.)
- ↑ As example "ubava Jana - bugarka", or "...prvata e bugarka, vtorata e vlahinka, trekjata e grkinka..."; See: " Българското самосъзнание в песенния фолклор на Македония. Академик Димитър Ангелов. Издава "Славянското дружество в България", основано през 1899 г. - 1997 г. Етническите и регионалните определения в песенния фолклор от Македония.[1]
- ↑ A memory about brothers D. and K. Miladinovi Publication: Periodical Journal of the Bulgarian Literary Society in Sredets (21-22/1887) Author: Stoyanov, Vassil D.
- ↑ Collective memory, national identity, and ethnic conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian question, Victor Roudometof, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, ISBN 0275976483, p. 91.
- ↑ History of the literary cultures of East-Central Europe: junctures and disjunctures in the 19th and 20th centuries, Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer, т John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2007 ISBN 9027234558, p. 276.
- ↑ "Това що зная за баща ми Димитър Миладинов и за стрико ми Константин Миладинов" Публикувано във вестник "Зора", 18, No 5270, 23 януари 1937, с. 8. , (in Bulgarian); English translation: "What I know of my father Dimitar Miladinov and my uncle Konstantin Miladinov editioned in newspaper "Zora", 18, No 5270, January 23rd 1937, c.8;
- ↑ Nationalism, Globalization, and Orthodoxy: The Social Origins of Ethnic Conflict in the Balkans (Contributions to the Study of World History), Victor Roudometof, Greenwood Press 2001, ISBN-10: 0313319499, p. 144.
- ↑ Letter from D. Miladinov to Victor Grigorovich about the search for Bulgarian folk songs and relics in Macedonia, 1846
- ↑ Donna Buchanan: Performing Democracy: Bulgarian Music and Musicians in Transition. University of Chicago Press, 2005, ISBN 0-226-07827-2, S. 34.
- ↑ Срезневский, И. И. Библиографические записки. Известия Императорской Академии наук по Отделению русского языка и словесности. СПб., 1861. Т. Х. Вып. IV. Също: ФЭБ "Русская литература и фольклор" Vorlage:Ru icon
- ↑ Bulgaria, R. J. Crampton, Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 0198205147, p. 61.
- ↑ Who are the Macedonians? Hugh Poulton, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1995, ISBN 1850652384, p. 38.
- ↑ Loring Danforth: The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World. Princeton University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-691-04356-6, S. 59.
- ↑ Loring Danforth: The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World. Princeton University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-691-04356-6, S. 50.
- ↑ Thammy Evans: Macedonia: The Bradt Travel Guide. Bradt Travel Guides, 2007, 2007, ISBN 1-84162-186-2, S. 173.
- ↑ John Shea: Macedonia and Greece: the struggle to define a new Balkan nation. McFarland, 1997, ISBN 0-7864-0228-8, S. 202.
- ↑ Andrew Rossos: Macedonia and the Macedonians: A History. Hoover Press, 2008, ISBN 0-8179-4882-1, S. 83.
- ↑ Richard Frucht: Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture. ABC-CLIO, 2005, ISBN 1-57607-800-0, S. 610.
- ↑ Roland Sussex: The Slavic Languages. Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-521-22315-6, S. 70.
- ↑ ms0601. www.soros.org.mk, abgerufen am 18. März 2008.
- ↑ John Phillips: Macedonia: Warlords and Rebels in the Balkans. I.B.Tauris, 2004, ISBN 1-86064-841-X, S. 41.
- ↑ Mirjana Maleska. Institute of Sociological and Political Research, Skopje, Macedonia, The Macedonian (Old-New) Issue, This article is written before the political and security crisis in Macedonia and it's published in the book edited by Kiril Kerikov: "Challenges of the Changes",Institute of Sociology,Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia,2000).