Today, Bulgaria is celebrating the day of enlighteners. On November 1, the nation pays tribute to the efforts of writers and educators who preserved the nation’s spiritual values. The Ivan Vazov National Library in Plovdiv will receive books about the activities of the National Assembly donated by the speaker Vezhdi Rashidov.
The 300th anniversary of the birth of Saint Paisius of Hilendar (Paisii Hilendarski) and the 260th anniversary of the publication of “Slavic Bulgarian History” will be celebrated by a celebration at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences on this day (Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya). The head of the state, Rumen Radev, also attend the educational event as a guest.
On this day, honour is given to the writers, educators, teachers and national liberationists who provided their services over the years and preserved the morals and spiritual values of the country. Saint John of Rila, Vladislav Gramatik, Paisius of Hilendar, Neofit Rilski, Vasil Levski, Hristo Botev, Hadji Dimitar, Ivan Vazov, Lyuben Karavelov, and others are among the most renowned folk revivalists.
The Bulgarian Minister of Public Education, Stoyan Omarchevski, proposed to the Council of Ministers in 1922 that November 1 be observed as the Day of the Bulgarian People’s Awakeners. The first holiday was initiated in 1909 in Plovdiv. By order of Tsar Boris III, it became a national holiday on November 1 in honour of the deserving Bulgarians.
The day was witnessed as a national holiday from 1922 to 1945. The holiday had been prohibited since 1945. It was restored after a protracted absence with the passage of the Law on Supplementing the Labor Code by the 36th National Assembly on October 28, 1992.
All educational institutions around the nation must be closed on November 1 in observance of the Day of the Enlighteners.