Figures of Plovdiv

Figures of Plovdiv

Hristo G. Danov (1828 -1911)

Hristo G. Danov (1828 -1911)

1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Teacher, man of letters, founder of the organised publishing in Bulgaria; member of the BG Literary Society (todays Bulgarian Academy of Sciences). In the period 1854-56, while a teacher at the Plovdiv parish (central) class school St.st.Cyril and Methodius, he published his first book Staroplaninche (i.e. coming from the Stara Planina mountain). Calendar of 1856 leap year.

In 1857, Hristo G. Danov founded in Plovdiv (together with the teacher Y.Truvchev and the book-binder N.Boyadzhijski, amd later in cooperation with Yoakim Gruev) United Bookbindery, which later grows into a bookshop and a publishing house. From 1862, it worked under the name of Hristo G. Danov and Co. Publishing House, with branches in the towns of rousse and Veles (1867), Sofia and Lom (1880). It mainly released textbooks and school materials, as well as the first wall maps. It also had some publishing of single works by Old Greek, Russian and West European classical writers - Euripid, Tourgenev, Mopassan, Joules Vernes.

In that period, Hristo G. danov published his own magazine called Letostruy, or Home Calendar (1869-76). Together with the trader Y.Kovachev, he established a Bulgarian printhouse in Vienna in 1874, which was later moved to Plovdiv in 1878, when on the initiative of the then Vice Governor of the city, Todor Bourmov, and with the financial support of the Provisional Russian Management, Danov started publishing the first common-Bulgarian newspaper Maritsa (1878-85). 

Hristo G. Danov was an active public figure. He was Mayor of Plovdiv (1896 - 1899), and one of his essencial initiatives was the forestation of the city hills of Bounardzhika and Sahat Tepe. He was buries in the yard of the St. Holy Mother Cahtedral Church in Suborna Street in the Old Town.

The Danov House Museum in the Old Town is located very close to that church. The house was built in the middle of the 19th century. Its stone foundations were built on solid rock, and it allows a unique view to the town. The Russian Knjaz Alexey Nickolaevich Tseretelev lived in this house for some time. His name was closely connected with some of the most dramatic moments of Bulgarian history - the April Uprising in 1876, the Russian-Turkish War in 1877-1878, and the organisation of the newly-liberated Bulgarian State. Today this beautiful house hosts a special exposition, dedicated to Bulgarian Book Publishing.

Stefan Bogoridi, Knjaz
Stefan Bogoridi, Knjaz
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
One of the most influential people in the Ottoman Empire after the sultan, often referred to as the Bulgarian having greatest authority and power. Active supporter of the movement for independent BG c...
Dimitre Dinev - writer, born 1968
Dimitre Dinev - writer, born 1968
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Dimitre Dinev was born in 1968 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He started writing at the time of his secondary schooling in a German speaking 'Gymnasium' in Pazardshik. <...
Nikola Alvadzhiev (11.09.1900 - 1974)
Nikola Alvadzhiev was born in Plovdiv in 1900. He graduated from the “Alexander I” High school in Plovdiv. He worked for the...
Bozhidar Zdravkov (30.01.1884 - 25.09.1959)
Bozhidar Zdravkov was born in 1884 in the Serbian town of Pirot. He was a lawyer and an eminent public figure. He studied Law in Sofia University and graduated in the uni...
Stoyan Chomakov, Dr. (1819 - 1893)
Stoyan Chomakov, Dr. (1819 - 1893)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Dr. Stoyan Chomakov, born in Koprivshtitsa in 1819. Doctor. Eminent fighter for Bulgarian church independence, a public and state figure. Member of Bulgarian Literary Society (today Bulgarian Acade...
Stoyan Zagorchinov (1889-1969)
Stoyan Zagorchinov (1889-1969)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Stoyan Zagorchinov was among the first writer to widely popularize the genre of historical novel in Bulgaria. His most significant ...
Ivan Ev. Geshov (1849 - 1924)
Ivan Ev. Geshov (1849 - 1924)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Ivan Evstratiev Geshov - eminent politican and banker. Public and political figure; publicist. Member of Bulgarian Literary Society (later the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences). Minister. Prime M...
Stanislav Dospevski (1823 -1878)
Stanislav Dospevski (1823 -1878)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Stanislav Dospevski was the firstborn of Dimiter Zograph's sons. He studied in Plovdiv and helped his father paint the Plovdiv Old Town church of "St. Nedelya". \r\...
Panayot Pipkov (1871 -1942)
Panayot Pipkov (1871 -1942)
1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
The eminent Bulgarian composer and musician Panayot Pipkov was born on November 21, 1871, in Plovdiv. He started learning violin and writing poems when he was very young; he was an amateur actor in...
Pavel Dzhidzhov, Father (1919 - 1952)
Father Pavel Dzhidzhov was born in Plovdiv on July 7th, 1919, in a catholic family. In 1926, he became a student at the primary school of the Assumptionists in Plovdiv - St. Andrews College. In the...