Dobri Petrov Chintulov () (1822 – 27 March 1886) was a Bulgarian poet, teacher and composer of the

Bulgarian National Revival The Bulgarian Revival (, ''Balgarsko vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and ), sometimes called the Bulgarian National Revival, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian pe ...

period. Born in the town of

Sliven Sliven ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. It is situated in the Sliven Valley at the foothills of th ...

(then in Ottoman

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

, today in

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 ...

) in September 1822 to the family of a craftsman, Chintulov studied at the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

school in his hometown. Due to a lack of funds, however, he was forced to drop out and move to

Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

, where he worked and visited the local class school in 1838 for around six months. From there he set off to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

, where he studied for a year and a half. Receiving a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

from the

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n government, Chintulov moved to

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in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

in 1840, assisted by his fellow townsman Dimitar Diamandiev, living in

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

. After a stay of several months in Brăila, Chintulov returned to Sliven in 1850 and worked as a teacher for seven years; he established a cultural centre (''

chitalishte A ''chitalishte'' (, ) is a traditional Bulgarian public institution and building that fulfills several functions at once, such as a community centre, public library, and a theatre. It is also used as an educational institution, where people o ...

''), joined the Bulgarian Church struggle and endorsed the idea of Bulgarian independence. In that period, he wrote a number of patriotic and revolutionary songs and poems, some of which became very popular and renowned as anthems of the revolution. Provoking the animosity of the Turkophile and

Grecoman Grecomans or Graecomans (; ; ; ; ; ) is a pejorative term used in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Romania, and Albania to characterize Albanian-speaking, Aromanian-speaking, and Slavic-speaking people who self-identify as ethnic Greeks. In the region ...

circles in Sliven who even attempted to assassinate him, Chintulov moved to

Yambol Yambol ( ) is a city in Southeastern Bulgaria and administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. It is occasionally spelled ''Jambol''. Yambol is the administrative cente ...

in 1858 and worked there as a head teacher until 1861. From 1861 to 1871, he was back to Sliven as a head teacher. In 1871, he moved to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

(

Tsarigrad ''Tsarigrad'' or ''Tsargorod'', also ''Czargrad'' and ''Tzargrad'', is a Slavic name for the city or land of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul in Turkey), the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Variations The terms ''Tsargrad'', ''Tsarigrad' ...

) as Sliven's representative for the creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate's statute. Upon returning to Sliven, he worked as a teacher once again for three years, but had to quit due to problems with his

sight Visual perception is the ability to detect light and use it to form an image of the surrounding Biophysical environment, environment. Photodetection without image formation is classified as ''light sensing''. In most vertebrates, visual percept ...

. Although ill and half- blind, Chintulov was among those who welcomed the liberating Russian forces in Sliven during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 on 17 November and held a speech. Receiving a

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

until the end of his life, Chintulov died in Sliven on 27 March 1886, disappointed with the post-Liberation reality. Chintulov's poetic legacy is not large in numbers, as only around 20 of his poems have survived: he had to burn his manuscripts twice. Only three of his songs have been published, but his works had a tremendous influence on the Bulgarian youth of the time and are still well known as classic Bulgarian revolutionary music. Three of his best known works are ''Rise Up, Rise Up, Balkan Hero'', ''The Wind is Resounding, the Mountain is Moaning'', and ''Where are you, Faithful Love of the People?''.

Honours

Chintulov Ridge Chintulov Ridge (, ‘Chintulov Hrebet’ \'chin-tu-lov 'hre-bet\) is the rocky ridge extending 6.9 km in north-northwest to south-southeast direction and 2.6 km wide, rising to 1145 m Oscar II Coast Oscar II Coast is that portion of the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula between Cape Fairweather to the north, and Cape Alexander to the south. Discovered in 1893 by Captain C.A. Larsen, who named it for King Oscar II of Norway and Sweden. ...

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee ...

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 Dobri Chintulov.

References

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External links

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Various works by Dobri Chintulov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chintulov, Dobri Bulgarian male poets Bulgarian schoolteachers 1822 births 1886 deaths Bulgarian educators Writers from Sliven 19th-century Bulgarian poets 19th-century Bulgarian male writers Blind educators Poets from the Ottoman Empire Educators from the Ottoman Empire