“…Any conclusion concerning the monarchist and republican sentiments among the various strata of the Bulgarian society in the past would be hasty, given the lack of any serious studies on that issue. I only dare remind you that throughout the whole period of Ottoman rule, there was no Bulgarian uprising of a big scale, which has failed to determine its future ruler or tsar at the very beginning of its preparation. The obvious hatred of all Bulgarians towards the Turkish Empire and the Sultan does not, at any rate, undermine their reverence to the old Bulgarian tradition. The monastery beadrolls save the names of our kings and queens from oblivion; the old manuscripts tell the stories of our rulers’ might; stories, which Paisii would refer to later on, proving the right of our people to a future of our own”.

     I started my professional career as a history editor in the Bulgarian Crown newspaper.

One day in the Bulgarian Crown editorial office. I am working on a material based on letters of readers /1993. /

 
We are covering the opening of Bulgarian Politicians Caricatures Exhibition by the painter Rumen Statkov, together with my colleague Iskra Krapatcheva /1992/

   Among the publications I value most are the ones in the column “Great Bulgarians Rules”. I worked on it in cooperation with Georgi N. Nikolov, an associate professor at the University of Sofia “St. Kliment Ohridski”. Here are excerpts from the articles on tsar Samuil, tsar Kaloyan and tsar Joan-Alexander.  

      Tsar Samuil – the dedicated warrior / 978-1014г. /

“ …To win wider international influence for his Kingdom as well as lasting friendship with Europe, tsar Samuil seeks the support of the Pope in Rome. The later correspondence between Tsar Kaloyan and Pope Innocentius III gives us unconditional evidence for the above…Thus, in the fall of the tenth century, tsar Samuil becomes the most recognized and powerful ruler on the Balkans…The year 1014 is on its way. In a decisive battle at Klyutch the Bulgarians seem to be the victorious side. They are to win, only if the strategist of Philipopolis, Nikiohor Xsfii, does not advance at their back, surround them and defeat tem. Samuil himself could hardly survive. The defeat is arduous and the losses are unforgettable. Most brutal is Vasilius II’s punishment of the captives. In his fury, he blinds 15 000 Bulgarian soldiers and sends them back to their leader.

Samuil, the glorious warrior in so many battles cannot bear this shameful sight. On October 6 1014, he dies of a heart attack.
Today, hundreds of years later, if one happenя to pass by the valley of Kliutch, they are overburdened by bitter unexplainable sorrow…The monument of Tsar Samuil is staring at you with eyes full of infinite desperation…Two eyes, crying without tears…”