On 14 November 1866, Academician Prof. Vasil Zlatarski was born.
On 14 November 1866 was born the eminent Bulgarian medievalist, archaeologist, epigrapher, and numismatist Academician Prof. Dr. Vasil Zlatarski (1866–1935), author of the fundamental three-volume work “History of the Bulgarian State in the Middle Ages”. Having devoted his life to research and teaching, he became one of the most prominent lecturers in medieval Bulgarian history (he also studied the Ottoman period and the National Revival). His academic career was closely tied to Sofia University, though he also lectured at the Free University, the Military School, the Military Academy, and the Theological Seminary. His personal writing belongings — a notebook, diploma folder, magnifying glass, pince-nez, and a photograph of his cabinet — hold an honored place in the showcases dedicated to Bulgaria’s first institution of higher education (Hall 5 of the National Museum of History). These and other items were donated to the museum by Vazkresiya Vasileva Todorova.
An intriguing exhibit from the showcases dedicated to Sofia University is the medal from the prestigious Fourth International Congress of Byzantine Studies, held in Sofia in September 1934. The congress was chaired by Prof. Vasil Zlatarski (pictured). The gilded medal (pictured)features a relief of a Byzantine warrior wearing a helmet and holding a spear, while the reverse shows an image of the Church of St. Sofia.
At the Fourth International Congress of Byzantine Studies in 1934, my father “reached the greatest height of his international reputation as a historian and as a person,” recalls his daughter Kresa (short for Vazkresiya) Zlatarska-Todorova. “During this final year of his life, my father’s health was very fragile, yet he maintained a lively and keen interest in every cultural event. With surprising readiness, he accepted the high honor, despite the challenges he foresaw in carrying out this important and demanding task. His suffering was considerable, but driven by a strong sense of responsibility and a desire to represent Bulgarian scholarship and culture with dignity before the leading Russian and European scholars, he set aside his illness. His selflessness, shown both before and during the congress, was even noticed by foreign participants, and the results of his efforts to create the best possible conditions for fruitful scholarly exchange were highly appreciated by all attendees.”
(Kresa Zlatarska-Todorova, My Father Vasil Zlatarski, Sofia, 1975, pp. 222–224)
Vasil Zlatarski was born in Tarnovo in 1866, the fifth and last child of teacher Nikola Zlatarski, whose sons left a significant mark in various fields of post-liberation Bulgaria. He completed classical secondary school in 1887 and studied history at the Imperial University of Saint Petersburg, graduating in 1892. He specialized in archaeology in Berlin from 1893 to 1895. At the age of 29 (1895), he began his lifelong association with the Higher School, which became Sofia University in 1904. He was professor of history, holding the chair of Bulgarian history and the history of the Balkan peoples, and from 1921 until his death he occupied the chair of Bulgarian history at Sofia University. Zlatarski was Dean of the Faculty of History and Philology (1906–1908, 1919–1920) and served twice as Rector of Sofia University (1913–1914; 1924–1925). He was a full member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), secretary and later chairman of its Historical and Philological Section, and vice-president of BAS. He was the founder and long-time chairman of the Bulgarian Historical Society, as well as editor and publisher of its journal “Izvestiya”. Zlatarski was also a member of 14 foreign academies and scholarly societies.
Text: Mariana Parvanova
