Bulgaria Pays Tribute to National Hero Hristo Botev on 178th Birth Anniversary

Veneta Litkova, Anita Ivanova

Celebration of the 178th anniversary of Hristo Botev’s birth, Sofia, January 6, 2026 (BTA Photo/Minko Chernev)

Sofia,

06.01.2026 16:18

(BTA)

The 178th anniversary of the birth of Bulgarian poet and revolutionary Hristo Botev was marked on Tuesday with a wreath-laying ceremony and a performance by the Representative Brass Band of the National Guards Unit in front of Botev’s bust monument in Borisova Gradina park in Sofia. The anniversary was also observed across the country.

Wreaths and flowers were laid at the monument in Sofia on behalf of President Rumen Radev, Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev, the Constitutional Court and parliamentary groups.

The programme also featured a performance by the male vocal quartet Svetoglas. The event was organized by the Sofia City Hall.

"Born 178 years ago, Botev did not live long, but he lived forever. With a pen sharper than a sabre and faith stronger than fear, he turned the pain of an enslaved people into poetry, and poetry into rebellion," actress Vasilka Sugareva, who hosted the event, said in her address. Sugareva added that Hristo Botev lives as long as there are people to remember him, read him and follow his example.

Hristo Botev is among the most revered figures in Bulgarian history, a revolutionary, poet and publicist who devoted his life to the struggle for Bulgaria’s liberation from Ottoman rule. In the winter of 1875-1876, he took part in preparations for an armed uprising, raising funds, weapons and volunteers among Bulgarian emigrants in Wallachia. After the April Uprising of 1876 was brutally suppressed, Botev organized a detachment of 205 men who famously seized the Austro-Hungarian steamboat Radetzky and crossed the Danube to join the rebels. Despite the lack of local support and heavy fighting with Ottoman forces, Botev and his men pressed on into the Balkan Mountains. He was killed on June 2, 1876, during a battle near Okolchitsa Peak. His death turned him into a lasting symbol of self-sacrifice and freedom, while his poetry and publicist writings remain deeply embedded in Bulgaria’s national memory, summed up in his immortal line: "He who falls in the fight for freedom lives forever."

/NF/