site.btaTwo-Day Forum Dedicated to April Uprising Brings Together 20 Scholars in Razlog

A two-day national scientific conference, titled “The April Uprising and the National Liberation Struggles of Bulgarians in Macedonia”, was held in Razlog. The academic forum, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the outbreak of the April Uprising, was organized by the Macedonian Scientific Institute, the Vasil Levski Foundation, the All-Bulgarian Vasil Levski Committee, the Municipality of Razlog, and the Historical Museum of Razlog. The forum is part of the events marking the 150th anniversary of the April uprising.

The conference was opened by the director of the Historical Museum of Razlog, Dr. Hristina Manova, the deputy mayor of Razlog, Hristo Zaykov, the chairman of the Macedonian Scientific Institute (MSI), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Milen Mihov, the chair of the Board of the Vasil Levski Foundation, Korneliya Marinova, and Dr. Georgi Trenchev from the MSI.

On the first day of the conference, presentations were delivered by Alexander Grebenarov from the Institute for Historical Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), doctoral candidate at the Faculty of History of Sofia University Krum Mitov, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Slavi Slavov from the Institute for Historical Research at BAS, curator at the Historical Museum in Razlog Iliya Tantilov, Dr. Georgi Trenchev from the MSI, and local historian Kosta Govedarov.

The second part of the academic forum continued with presentations by Genka Ivanova, curator at the Church History Museum of the Rila Holy Monastery, by the director of the Historical Museum of Razlog, Dr. Hristina Manova, and by curators from the Regional Historical Museum in Blagoevgrad, Dr. Elena Aleksandrova, Dr. Elena Chalgynova, and Rositsa Yaneva.

Within the framework of the conference, student Liliya Ruskova from Razlog presented her original poem dedicated to the events in Batak, while local singer Todor Preshelkov performed a folk song inspired by the Bulgarian national liberation struggles.

At the end of the conference, the director of the museum in Razlog, Dr. Hristina Manova, announced that the presented papers would be collected and published in an edited volume in order to reach a wider audience.