Ivan Vazov was a Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright. He was born in Sopot, a town situated in the Rose valley of Bulgaria.
The
date of Vazov's birth is indisputable, although the poet didn't know it
exactly. His mother, Suba, was neighbour of Mintcho Vazov's, who liked
her beforehand. Ivan Vazov inherited series of human virtues from his
father. His mother excessively influenced his development.
After
finishing the primary school in Sopot, Mintcho sent his son to Kalofer,
appointing him assistant teacher. After the years of exams in Kalofer,
the young teacher returned to Sopot in his father's grocery to help him
with his work. The next year his father sent him to Plovdiv to Naiden
Gerov's school. There Vazov made his first steps as a poet.
He
returned in Sopot and was sent again to Olteniţa in Romania lately to
study trade. But Vazov didn't show a keen interest in trade. He was
immersed in his poet world. Soon he left Oltenita and went to Brăila
where he met Hristo Botev, a Bulgarian revolutionary and poet. From
Brăila he went to Galaţi to his uncle. There he met Botev again.
In 1874 he joined the struggle for his country's liberation, and had to flee after the unsuccessful April uprising of 1876.
Vazov
started writing his famous poems with Botev and some immigrants. After
his stay in Galatsi he went to Istanbul. Arriving back to Bulgaria with
the help of his father he started teaching. Vazov's next stay is in
Svistov where he became a civil servant.
Vazov's 1893 novel
Under the Yoke, which depicts the Ottoman oppression of Bulgaria, is
the most famous piece of classic Bulgarian literature. Later in his
life Vazov was a prominent and widely respected figure in the social
and cultural life of newly independent Bulgaria.