Kuzman Shapkarev (1834 – 1909): a teacher, folklorist and writer – supporter of the Bulgarian Revival in Macedonia

The personality and work of Kuzman Shapkarev (1834 – 1909) are inextricably linked with the Bulgarian Revival in Macedonia. Born in one of the most established centres of Bulgarianhood – the town of Ohrid, almost entirely self-literate in his native tongue, he became a prominent figure with a contribution to the development of the Bulgarian language and its gradual introduction in the schools across Macedonia. He carried out intensive teaching activity for three and a half decades, whose peak was the founding of the Salonica High School in 1880 – 1881. After 1884, he moved to the free Bulgarian lands and concentrated on publishing and folklore studies. In the early 1890s he published the collection “Bulgarian Folklore works”. He is the author of biographical books, including the one about the Miladinov Brothers. In 1875 he was elected a member of the Bulgarian Literary Society (the present-day Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) and was respected both by the representatives of the scholarly circles and those of the Exarchate, the political elite and the ordinary studious Bulgarians. The philosophy of his life is contained in one of his phrases (from a letter sent to Rakovski, 1860): “I am happy that I was born a Bulgarian!”.