19 February marks one of the most tragic dates in Bulgarian history. This year is the 141^st death anniversary of this country’s best loved national hero, Vasil Levski. On this day, Bulgarians pay homage to his heroism. Vasil Levski was born on 18 July 1837 in the town of Karlovo and was hanged by the Turkish authorities in Sofia in 1873. During his lifetime he displayed exceptional valor and wisdom for his 36 years and has been dubbed the Apostle of Freedom. He was trained to become an Orthodox priest and was ordained deacon but he then decided to quit and devoted all his time to the Bulgarian national revolution for the liberation of the country from Ottoman rule.

Before Levski took center stage in the struggles for liberation, it was widely believed that a successful uprising against the Ottoman Empire could only take place if strongly backed by detachments entering Bulgaria from neighboring countries. He himself joined the First and Second Bulgarian legions, both military units trained in emigration, as well as the detachment led by Panayot Hitov. Their failure however, urged him to take a different route. Levski was absolutely convinced that liberation should come from within, and so he embarked on constant tours of the country’s various regions creating a wide-ranging network of revolutionary committees. The internal revolutionary organization structured by the Apostle laid the foundations of the Bulgarian national revolution – the April Uprising in 1876 and the Liberation in 1878. Along with its national dimensions this organization represents a foremost achievement of the European revolutionary and democratic movements in 19 c.

For all Bulgarians regardless of social status or political affiliations, the Apostle of Freedom with his dedication and moral integrity is invaluable. “I have committed myself to the Fatherland to serve it until I die and to work under the imperatives and the will of the nation”, he wrote. Levski upheld the ideal of “a pure and holy republic”, and of freedom – personal, national and universal. He was fighting for equality of nations, for political and civil rights of ethnicities and minorities, for a democratic organization of society.

“Levski is not a national treasure that we should lock in a case and take out to show from time to time. He is a flame burning and giving out light to our present day. This flame should be kept and maintained with the efforts of all Bulgarians”, prominent Bulgarian novelist Academician Anton Dontchev said. He was among the activists for creating a monument of the Apostle in Dimitrovgrad, Serbia (old name: Tsaribrod), a town with predominantly Bulgarian population. On 18 February 2014, Bulgarian PM Plamen Oresharski and Serbian PM Ivica Dacic unveiled the monument of Vasil Levski and commemorated the great hero. The initiative for installing the bust came from the town’s mayor Neboisa Ivanov.

“The idea for a monument to Vasil Levski in Tsaribrod has been brewing for quite some time. I am happy that it has become reality. The sculpture has been created by Prof. Valentin Startchev and has been donated by the Bulgarian construction company Trace Group Hold. The monument is in the square outside the Town Hall. It is a source of moral support to the Bulgarian minority in Serbia and contributes into the development of relations between the two countries”, Neboisa Ivanov says.

In 2007, in a TV poll of the Bulgarian National Television, Vasil Levski was named one of the greatest Bulgarians of all time. His portraits are displayed in every school in this country, and in all Bulgarian schools abroad. His monuments outside Bulgaria are already 22 – in countries of Europe, the Americas and Asia.

English version: Daniela Konstantinova