Professor Georgi Eldarov on the legacy of the past and the first book ever printed in the Bulgarian language

In 2011, Bulgaria marks 360 years since the first printed book in Bulgarian came to life. This book was called Abagar and was compiled and published in the Cyrillic alphabet in Rome in 1651. It was printed on large leafs of paper so that it could be carried in the form of a scroll and it also contained illustrations. The book was called after the apocryphal letter of King Abgar of Edessa to Jesus Christ. According to an ancient legend, Jesus healed the king through the power of the Divine word and through a cloth that preserved his image. It was believed that because of this, the book Abagar could serve the role of an amulet. The book was actually a breviary compiled by the first Catholic bishop in Bulgaria where Orthodox Christianity is the official denomination.
More about the first Bulgarian printed book by professor Georgi Eldarov:

“The book was compiled by Filip Stanislavov who was the first Bulgarian Catholic bishop of the Nikopol diocese in Northern Bulgaria. The book is pervaded by patriotic ardor. The author signed it as Filip Stanislavov, bishop of Great Bulgaria. At that time, the 17th century, Bulgaria was under the Ottoman Domination and was not so great at all but the self-esteem, especially among Bulgarian Catholics, was very strong. In this period, young people who studied in Italy took charge of the Bulgarian Catholic Church. And in Italy, two other works were printed before that in which Bulgaria was shown in the best light possible. These were the ecclesiastical annals of Cesare Baronius and Mavro Orbini’s The Kingdom of the Slavs which was released in 1601. Some time later, many Bulgarian children arrived in Italy to study. And getting to know these books, they felt really proud of Bulgaria’s glorious past”.

As far as the name Abagar is concerned, it has been part of Georgi Eldarov’s life for years. He used it to name a cultural house, an archive, two periodicals and a foundation.
But before than, a short biographic overview – Monsignor Eldarov was born in 1926 in the village of Zornitsa near Yambol (Southern Bulgaria). He was only 12 years old when he left for Italy to study in the town of Assisi, and later he graduated theology in Rome in 1947. He was the only Bulgarian theologian who attended as advisor the Second Vatican Council from 1962 through 1965 – a notable event in the history of Christianity in the 20th century. The council started reforms in the Catholic Church via opening it for dialogue with other religions and introducing the liturgy in local languages. Georgi Eldarov was also in charge of the Bulgarian-language section at the Vatican Radio for a quarter of a century. And although he remained abroad until the fall of the Iron Curtain, he says:

“I have never lost my connection to Bulgaria. In 1966, I had the chance to be in charge of Bulgarian affairs in the West – I was appointed at the Vatican as the organizer of visits of Bulgarians living abroad. I traveled a lot and established contacts with Bulgarians across the world. I started thinking about making a spiritual and cultural center in the Eternal City and in the Western world”, he says.

And this turned out to be Abagar House which opened doors in the early 1980s. It was rather large, close to the seaside and turned into a true home to Bulgarians. Many Bulgarians and also foreigners visited it. More than 2,000 people have stayed there over the years. Professor Eldarov’s ambition was to fill the center with valuable objects related to Bulgaria: books, documents, and antiques. He even placed a memorial plate commemorating the anniversary since the Chiprovsko Rebellion in Northwestern Bulgaria against the Ottoman oppressors in the late 17th century. The plate is still there and people cherish it.

More than 30,000 books, documents and artifacts of historical value are gathered in the archives stored in Abagar House. There are magnificent antique editions, documents related to the Bulgarian Revival Period, and a collection of books in different languages on Bulgaria-related topics. Some of them date back to the mid-19th century. These editions are most notable for the opinions of foreigners about Bulgarians and Bulgarian history included in them. And what is more – during his trips to Istanbul, Monsignor Eldarov came across the Bulgarian book archives of Robert College.

“I became interested in all sorts of Bulgarian books and I started seeking them during my travels. In Istanbul, I browsed the shops of antiquarians and someone pointed to me such a shop where I purchased books at very good prices. I found them buried in the dust in a basement. I saved what I could. But I also collected books from the Uniate Church in Istanbul, as well as books and documents which my fellow-Bulgarians gave me. Currently, all these valuable finds are taken care of by a foundation I established in the mid-1990s, which is also called Abagar”, professor Elderov recalls.

The Bulgarian Church archive Abagar is already in Bulgaria. It has been publishing a Catholic newspaper of the same name for some 20 years now. It is the heir to a bulletin that was published in Rome from 1981 to 1991. For the new issue of Abagar newspaper, professor Eldarov has prepared a publication about Monsignor Angello Roncalli who was a representative of the Vatican in Bulgaria from 1925 to 1935. Roncalli was to become the future Pope John XXIII who had exceptional contribution to the summoning of the Second Vatican Council. Professor Elderov met him for the first time 50 years ago. “When Pope John XXIII found out I was Bulgarian, he approached me and asked me to tell him about Bulgaria. He was very interested in our country. I remember one of his first public addresses at Saint Peter’s Square in Rome as Pope John XXIII in 1959 when he said that the world should not forget about a nation that lives on both sides of the Balkan Range – the Bulgarian nation”, professor Elderov recalls.

Today, professor Elderov thinks that the Bulgarian period is the least known period in the biography of Pope John XXIII and that it is worthwhile to organize an exhibition and a discussion to shed more light on it. This and other topics will be included in the new issue of the Abagar newspaper released in Bulgaria by the Bulgarian Church Archive of the same name.

Translated by: Rossitsa Petcova

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Professor Georgi Eldarov on the legacy of the past and the first book ever printed in the Bulgarian language

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