Hitar Petar or Itar Pejo (Itar Petar) (, ), meaning "''Crafty Peter''" or "''Clever Peter''", is a character of Bulgarian and

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

. He is a poor village farmhand, but possesses remarkable slyness, wit and wile. He is often presented as the "typical Bulgarian" 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 ...

and the "typical Macedonian" in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. He is the perpetual antagonist of either the rich nobles, clerics and money lenders or the "typical Ottoman" —

Nasreddin Nasreddin () or Nasreddin Hodja (variants include Mullah Nasreddin Hodja, Nasruddin Hodja, Mullah Nasruddin, Mullah Nasriddin, Khoja Nasriddin, Khaja Nasruddin) (1208–1285) is a character commonly found in the folklores of the Muslim world, ...

, whom he always manages to outwit. He is therefore regarded as a strictly positive figure and a hero of the common folk. According to a different folklore narratives he is either from

Rousse Ruse (also transliterated as Rousse, Russe; ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fifth-largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, ...

area, according to another from

Haskovo Haskovo ( ) is a city in the region of Northern Thrace in southern Bulgaria and the administrative centre of the Haskovo Province, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. According to Operative Program Regional Development of Bulgaria ...

area, according to a third from

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( ) is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the Local government, administrative centre of Gabrovo Province.It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international ca ...

area, according to a fourth from

Prilep Prilep ( ) is the List of cities in North Macedonia, fourth-largest city in North Macedonia. According to 2021 census, it had a population of 63,308. Name The name of Prilep appeared first as ''Πρίλαπος'' in Greek (''Prilapos'') in 1 ...

area, and so on, but in general, he is simply an imagined folk hero. As a character, Hitar Petar first appeared in the 16th–17th century, when most of the Balkans were still under Ottoman rule. Tales on his deeds are present in the folklore of many regions. His name appeared for the first time in written records in the late 1850s. Petko Slaveikov wrote in 1858 about Hitar Petar. In 1862

Kuzman Shapkarev Kuzman Anastasov Shapkarev ( Bulgarian and ; 1 January 1834 – 18 March 1909) was a Bulgarian folklorist and ethnographer from the Ottoman region of Macedonia, author of textbooks and ethnographic studies, and a figure of the Bulgarian Nationa ...

recorded from

Metodi Kusev Metodi may refer to: *2609 Kiril-Metodi, main belt asteroid with an orbital period of 1209 *Metodi Deyanov Metodi Valentinov Deyanov) () (born 3 April 1975 in Sofia), is a former Bulgarian football attacking midfielder. He ended his career at th ...

a long tale about Itar Petar. In 1869 Dobri Voynikov used his name as own nickname, and between 1870 and 1874 Dimitar Panichkov published the newspaper "Hitar Petar". Marko Cepenkov sent in 1870 to

Petko Slaveykov Petko Rachov Slaveykov () (17 November 1827 OS – 1 July 1895 OS ) was a Bulgarian poet, publicist, politician and folklorist. Biography Early years and educational activity Slaveykov was born in Tarnovo to the family of the coppersmith R ...

a lot of proverbs about Itar Pejo. In 1873 Iliya Blaskov published in Ruse a small booklet with the anecdotes about Hitar Petar. Slaveykov, Vasil Cholakov and Dimitar Manchov also recorded folk tales about Hitar Peter at that time. His feats were adapted to an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

in 1967 and two

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

s, ''Nastradin Hodzha i Hitar Petar'' of

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

and ''Hitar Petar'' of

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

. There are many prose and poetry in which Itar Pejo appears as the main hero, and it was a common theme for Macedonian humor and cartoonists. In 1977, MRT recorded a TV series, according to the script by Mile Nedelkovski. There are over thirty stories about Itar Pejo, which firstly collected the writer Stale Popov in the collection "Itar Pejo". In 1966,

Slavko Janevski Slavko Janevski (January 11, 1920 – January 20, 2000) was a Macedonian poet, prose and script writer. He was also active as a comics artist.Tomislav Osmanli„Razvojot na stripot vo Makedonija – sedum decenii stripovno tvoreštvo“ ''Strip ...

published the poetry collection "The Gospel of Itar Pejo", which contains the songs "Itar Pejo for One Another" and "Svetovrazha". Hitar Petar is similar to other characters of European and Oriental folklore, most notably

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic folklore, the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Till Eulenspiegel Till Eulenspiegel (; ) is the protagonist of a European narrative tradition. A German chapbook published around 1510 is the oldest known extant publication about the folk hero (a first edition of is preserved fragmentarily), but a background i ...

, the

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

Thyl Ulenspiegel, the Hungarian Csalóka Péter and the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Hershele Ostropoler Hershel of Ostropol (, Little Hersh of Ostropol; 1757–1811) is a prominent figure in Jewish humor. Hershel was a badchen from Ostropol, Crown Poland (now Ukraine), who lived in poverty and targeted the rich and powerful, both Jew and Gentile. ...

. In North Macedonia, it is thought that Itar Pejo is a native of the region of

Mariovo Mariovo () is a historic region in the southern part of North Macedonia, with an area of 1,390 square km and an elevation 1,050 m, situated among mountains. Geography Mountains * Selečka (highest peak - ''Visoka'' 1,471 m) on the west, * Nid ...

, and a monument to the character was built in

. Hitar Petar Nunatak on

Trinity Peninsula Trinity Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends northeastward for about 130 km (80 mi) to Cape Dubouzet from an imaginary line connecting Cape Kater on the north-west coast and Cape Longing on the sou ...

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 the folklore character.SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica
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References

External links

* * {{Humor and wit characters Bulgarian humour Folklore characters Bulgarian folklore Humor and wit characters Fictional Bulgarian people Itar_Petar (Itar Pejo)