“We are united by the spirit of liberty...”

Bulgarian Prince Ferdinand I read out the Bulgarian Declaration of Independence at the Forty Holy Martyrs Church in the city of Veliko Tarnovo on September 22, 1908. Now independent from the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria came to be known as the Tsardom of Bulgaria, and Ferdinand assumed the title of Tsar.

Bulgaria celebrates the Independence Day every year on September 22. In Ukraine, it is celebrated not only by numerous Bulgarian diaspora, but also by students of the Institute of Philology (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv). The annual event’s co-organizers are the school’s Center of Bulgarian Language, Literature, History, and Culture and the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Ukraine.

Just like in previous years, students of the department of Slavic philology prepared a special program this year. It included Bulgarian and Ukrainian folk and popular songs and recitation of poems by Ivan Vazov and Elisaveta Bagryana. The event was attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to Ukraine Krasimir Minchev.

After the “musical” part of the event, Assistant Professor of Slavic Philology Olena Chmyr introduced to those present the latest addition to Den’s Library, the book My Sister Sofia... which she co-authored. “As a student of Bulgarian culture, I find publication of this highly anticipated book a natural development,” Chmyr told us. “Written popularly and using accessible language, it communicates to the Ukrainian audience the chief facts of Bulgarian history. Importantly, it specifically highlights the Ukrainian-Bulgarian relationship, which is sometimes difficult to discern against the background of imperial history. Symbolically, this publication appeared on the eve of the Independence Day of Bulgaria. I thank Den for the idea!”

Students and teachers who participated in the event seized the opportunity to buy the new book. “It is of interest to us as future professional Bulgarian scholars,” third-year Bulgarian philology major Anna Holovashchenko told us. “Ukraine and Bulgaria have in common the spirit of liberty, the desire to be free. Both countries went through long periods of enslavement, but still won their independence. The book lays out fundamental and little-known knowledge that one will not find on the Internet.”