President Calls for Stronger Recognition of April Uprising as Founding Moment of Bulgarian National Revolution

At an event commemorating the 150th anniversary of the April Uprising, Evelina Slavcheva, President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), stated that the 1876 uprising marks the definitive beginning of the Bulgarian national revolution, an interpretation she urged the global historical community to adopt. Speaking at the All-Bulgarian Solemn Assembly, the BAS President emphasized the Academy’s role, as the oldest modern Bulgarian institution, in safeguarding national memory. She stated that the Academy committed itself to uniting scientific, civic, and state efforts for this purpose.

Slavcheva described the 1876 events as a decisive starting point for the national revolution, aligning with the view of historian Prof. Nikolay Genchev, who characterized the uprising as a radical act of state-building. According to this perspective, the subsequent Russo-Turkish War was interpreted not solely as an imperial struggle, but as a direct response to the massacres of April 1876.

Slavcheva noted that this context allowed the state of Bulgaria to reappear on the European map after a period of five centuries. She highlighted the deep connection between the BAS and the legacy of the uprising. Many members of the Bulgarian Literary Society, the predecessor to the BAS, were active participants in the planning and execution of the uprising.

Slavcheva pointed to prominent chroniclers among these members, such as Stoyan Zaimov and Zahari Stoyanov, whose documentation proved that the path to freedom was secured through both intellectual and armed means. Concluding her remarks, the President appealed to contemporary Bulgarian historians to uphold the intellectual legacy of Nikolay Genchev, advocating for the affirmation of the April Uprising in world scholarship as the legitimate commencement of the Bulgarian national revolution.

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