Bozhidar Dimitrov Stoyanov (,
3 December 1945 – 1 July 2018) was a
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
n historian, politician, and polemicist in the sphere of
Medieval Bulgarian history, the
Ottoman rule of Bulgaria and the
Macedonian Question. He was director of the
National Historical Museum, formerly a
Bulgarian Socialist Party member, and later became affiliated with the
Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) political party.
Biography
Born in
Sozopol
Sozopol ( ; ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is an ancient seaside town located 35 km south of Burgas on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. One of the major seaside resorts in the country, it is known for the ''Apollonia'' art and film ...
to a family of
Bulgarian refugees from
Eastern Thrace
East Thrace or Eastern Thrace, also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the part of Turkey that is geographically in Southeast Europe. Turkish Thrace accounts for 3.03% of Turkey's land area and 15% of its population. The largest c ...
(now part of
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
), he was given access to the
Vatican Secret Archives in the 1980s, regarded as a great achievement considered the political situation of the time. As the director of the National Historical Museum, he had an indirect conflict in 1997–1998 with the President
Petar Stoyanov regarding whether to return the ''
Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya'' rough copy to the
Zograf Monastery or leave it in Bulgaria.
Being a member of the Supreme Party Council of BSP, he declared himself openly against the party in 2005 by not supporting BSP
Mayor of Sofia candidate
Tatyana Doncheva and instead favouring the independent
Boyko Borisov. Because of this he was taken down from the post of BSP municipal councillors leader in
Sofia
Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
. Before the
2009 Bulgarian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 5 July 2009. With 40% of the vote, the decisive winner of the elections was the established in 2006 personalistic party of Boyko Borisov, GERB. The Socialist Party, in power before the election ...
, Dimitrov formally left BSP and joined Borisov's GERB. He was the party's candidate for
2nd MMC – Burgas in the first-past-the-post vote and won the election with 35.92%. He finished ahead of
Volen Siderov, the leader of the nationalist
Attaka.
Dimitrov is the author of 30 treatises and over 250 articles and papers in the sphere of his research, as well as several books (including ''The Ten Lies of Macedonism'' and ''Twelve Myths in Bulgarian History''). He has specialized in palaeography in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and also hosts the patriotic history-related ''Pamet Balgarska'' (''Bulgarian Memory'') show on
Kanal 1.
Dimitrov believes that the
Bulgars
The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic peoples, Turkic Nomad, semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centu ...
played a more important role in the formation of the contemporary
Bulgarians
Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...
as a people than previously believed.
He was
Minister without portfolio
A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...
responsible for
Bulgarians abroad in the GERB government (July 2009 – February 2011).
Controversy
Although serious researchers maintain that Dimitrov’s views on Bulgarian history are biased and can be partially challenged, they are popular in Bulgaria and he enjoys credibility among nationalist intellectuals.
[Modernity and tradition: European and national in Bulgaria, Marko Hajdinjak, Maya Kosseva, Antonina Zhelyazkova, International Center for Minority Studies and Intercultural Relations, Sofia, , 2012.] Dimitrov was a collaborator of Bulgaria's communist-era security service.
''The Ten Lies of Macedonism''
Bozhidar Dimitrov's book, ''The Ten Lies of Macedonism'' (2000, 2003 and 2007), is a polemical pamphlet, based on historical documents, and is openly against the ideology of "
Macedonism", i.e. the form of ethnic
Macedonian nationalism that asserts an "allegedly deep-rooted ethnic and cultural distinction" between
ethnic Macedonians and
Bulgarians
Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...
. The book has caused considerable controversy and criticism from ethnic Macedonian sources. Dimitrov claims that it has reached best-seller status in the Republic of Macedonia.
[Interview with Bozhidar Dimitrov](_blank)
The "10 lies" described by Dimitrov are:
*First lie: the notion that contemporary
ethnic Macedonians are descendants of
ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians (, ) were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, Axios in the northeastern part of Geography of Greece#Mainland, mainland Greece. Essentially an Ancient Greece, ancient ...
.
*Second lie: ethnic Macedonians are "pure
Slavs
The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
" distinct from Bulgarians, who are "
Tatars
Tatars ( )[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...
".
*Third lie: medieval figures like
Saints Cyril and Methodius
Cyril (; born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (; born Michael, 815–885) were brothers, Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".
They are ...
were ethnic Macedonians.
*Fourth lie:
Samuel of Bulgaria was an ethnic Macedonian and the
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...
was a "Macedonian" state.
*Fifth lie: the
Archbishopric of Ohrid was a "Macedonian" church.
*Sixth lie: the
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate (; ) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953.
The Exarchate (a de facto autocephaly) ...
conquered the ethnic Macedonian people.
*Seventh lie: early 20th-century revolutionary movements such as the
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Founded in 1893 in Salonica, it initia ...
(IMRO) worked for a "Macedonian" national goal.
*Eighth lie: that
Krste Misirkov is the number 1 ethnic Macedonian of the 20th century.
*Ninth lie: the "
heroic struggle of the Macedonian people against Bulgarian occupiers in 1941–1944".
*Tenth lie: on the rejoicing of the Macedonian people for their
second inclusion in Yugoslavia in 1944 and the 250,000 ethnic
Macedonians in Bulgaria.
Publications
* Bozhidar Dimitrov. ''The True History of Liberation 1860–1878''. Sofia: Standart News Ltd., 2010. 183 pp. (First edition in 2006, .)
* Bozhidar Dimitrov, co-author. wikisource:en:Bulgarian Policies on the Republic of Macedonia, ''Bulgarian Policies on the Republic of Macedonia: Recommendations on the development of good neighbourly relations following Bulgaria’s accession to the EU and in the context of NATO and EU enlargement in the Western Balkans''. Sofia: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2008. 80 pp. (Trilingual publication in Bulgarian, Macedonian and English)
* Bozhidar Dimitrov. ''The Ten Lies of Macedonism''. Sofia: Kom Foundation, 2007. 107 pp. (First edition in 2000 in Bulgarian, .)
* Bozhidar Dimitrov. ''Macedonia – Holy Bulgarian Land: Who Are the Successors of Alexander the Great and Roxana?'' Sofia: Kom Foundation, 2007. 80 pp.
* Bozhidar Dimitrov. ''Seven Ancient Civilizations in Bulgaria: With Maps & Color Illustrations''. Sofia: Kom Foundation, 2006. 112 pp.
* Bozhidar Dimitrov. ''12 Myths in Bulgarian History''. Sofia, Kom Foundation, 2005. 148 pp.
* Bozhidar Dimitrov. ''Bulgarians: The First Europeans''. Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridsky University Press, 2002. 108 pp.
* Bozhidar Dimitrov. ''Bulgaria and the Vatican''. Sofia: Bulgarian Diplomatic Review, 2002. 56 pp.
* Bozhidar Dimitrov. ''The Bulgars and Alexander of Macedon''. Sofia: Tangra Publishers, 2001. 138 pp.
* Bozhidar Dimitrov. ''Venetian Documents on Bulgarian History During the 16th and 17th Century''. Sofia: Borina Ltd., 1994.
Honours
Dimitrov Cove in
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
is named after Bozhidar Dimitrov.
Dimitrov Cove.
SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
The Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is the authoritative international gazetteer containing all Antarctic toponyms published in national gazetteers, plus basic information about th ...
.
References
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*
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimitrov, Bozhidar
1945 births
2018 deaths
People from Sozopol
20th-century Bulgarian historians
Government ministers of Bulgaria
Bulgarian socialists
Bulgarians from Eastern Thrace
Historians of the Balkans
21st-century Bulgarian historians