November 1 - Bulgaria Celebrates National Awakening Day

On November 1, Bulgarians celebrate the National Awakening Day. On this day, tribute is paid to the work of writers, educators, fighters for national liberation, who preserved the spiritual values of the nation and its morals over the centuries.

Among the names of the most revered folk revivalists are Saint Ivan Rilski, Vladislav Gramatik, Paisius of Hilendar, Neofit Rilski, Vasil Levski, Hristo Botev, Hadji Dimitar, Ivan Vazov, Lyuben Karavelov and others.

The fame of the first awakener of the nation deservedly goes to Paisius of Hilendar. Bulgarians know and honor him as Father Paisius. In the distant times, more than two and a half centuries ago, in 1762, Paisius of Hilendar wrote his "Slavic Bulgarian History" (Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya). His first follower was Bishop Sophronius of Vratsa. In difficult times for Bulgarians, he wrote books about education and worked for political liberation.

Sophronius of Vratsa, Joasaf Bdinski, Grigoriy Tsamblak, Konstantin Kostenechki, Vladislav Gramatik, Priest Peyo, Matej Gramatik, St. Ivan Rilski, Neofit Bozveli, the brothers Dimitar and Konstantin Miladinovi, Georgi S. Rakovski, Vasil Levski, Hristo Botev, Ivan Vazov, Stefan Karadzha, Hadji Dimitar, Lyuben Karavelov, Dobri Chintulov and hundreds of other saviors of national consciousness and Bulgarian self-awareness.

After the Liberation of Bulgaria, both the intelligentsia and the mass people were aware of the feat of the Revivalist writers and revolutionaries who created the atmosphere and led the Bulgarian spirit to the determination to lead a struggle for state sovereignty.

The holiday was celebrated for the first time in 1909 in Plovdiv. In 1922, Stoyan Omarchevski, Minister of Public Education of Bulgaria, submitted a proposal to the Council of Ministers to designate November 1 as the Day of National Awakening. From November 1, 1923, by decree of Tsar Boris III, it was declared a national holiday in memory of the deserving Bulgarians. From 1922 to 1945 it was a national holiday. Since 1945, the holiday has been canceled and after a long break, with the Law on Supplementing the Labor Code, adopted by the 36th National Assembly on October 28, 1992, the tradition of the holiday was resumed.

The first of November has been officially declared the Day of National Awakening and an absentee day for all educational institutions in the country.

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