Hitar Petar or Itar Pejo is a character of Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

n and Macedonian

Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

 folklore

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

. Hitar Petar is a poor village farmhand, but possesses remarkable slyness, wit and wile. He is often presented as the "typical Bulgarian/Macedonian" and the perpetual antagonist of either the rich nobles, clerics and money lenders or the "typical Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

" — Nasreddin

Nasreddin

Nasreddin was a Seljuq satirical Sufi figure, sometimes believed to have lived during the Middle Ages and considered a populist philosopher and wise man, remembered for his funny stories and anecdotes. He appears in thousands of stories, sometimes witty, sometimes wise, but often, too, a fool or...

, whom he always manages to outwit. He is therefore regarded as a strictly positive figure and a hero of the common folk.

As a character, Hitar Petar first appeared in the 16th–17th century, when Bulgaria was still under Ottoman rule. There's no certainty on the question from which part of Bulgaria the character originates. Tales on his deeds are present in the folklore of all regions inhabited by Bulgarians: Dobrudja, Thrace

Thrace

Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...

, Macedonia

Macedonia (region)

Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...

. It is generally thought, though, that the original Hitar Petar lived somewhere in present-day North-Western Bulgaria. In 1873, he was introduced to literature, with Iliya Blaskov publishing several anecdotes involving him. His feats were adapted to an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in 1967 and two comedy film

Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

s, Nastradin Hodzha i Hitar Petar of 1939

1939 in film

The year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...

 and Hitar Petar of 1960

1960 in film

The year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I...

.

Hitar Petar is similar to other characters of European and Oriental folklore, more notable Nasreddin

Nasreddin

Nasreddin was a Seljuq satirical Sufi figure, sometimes believed to have lived during the Middle Ages and considered a populist philosopher and wise man, remembered for his funny stories and anecdotes. He appears in thousands of stories, sometimes witty, sometimes wise, but often, too, a fool or...

 of Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic folklore, the German

German folklore

German folklore shares many characteristics with Scandinavian folklore and English folklore due to their origins in a common Germanic mythology. It reflects a similar mix of influences: a pre-Christian pantheon and other beings equivalent to those of Norse mythology; magical characters associated...

 Till Eulenspiegel

Till Eulenspiegel

Till Eulenspiegel was an impudent trickster figure originating in Middle Low German folklore. His tales were disseminated in popular printed editions narrating a string of lightly connected episodes that outlined his picaresque career, primarily in Germany, the Low Countries and France...

, the Hungarian

Hungarian mythology

Hungarian mythology includes the myths, legends, folk tales, fairy tales and gods of the Hungarians. Many parts of it are thought to be lost, i.e. only some texts remained which can be classified as a myth. However, a significant amount of Hungarian mythology was successfully recovered in the last...

 Lúdas Matyi

Mattie the Goose-boy

Mattie the Goose-boy, or Lúdas Matyi, is a Hungarian epic poem written by Mihály Fazekas in 1804 and first released in 1817. It is based on a folk-tale of unknown origins...

 and the Jewish

Jewish mythology

Jewish mythology is generally the sacred and traditional narratives that help explain and symbolize the Jewish religion, whereas Jewish folklore consists of the folk tales and legends that existed in the general Jewish culture. There is very little early folklore distinct from the aggadah literature...

 Hershele Ostropoler

Hershele Ostropoler

Hershele Ostropoler, also known as Hershel of Ostropol, is a prominent figure in Jewish humor, and the Jewish equivalent of Nasreddin and Till Eulenspiegel. Hershele was a prankster who lived in poverty and targeted the rich and powerful, both Jew and Gentile. Common folks were not safe from his...

.

In the Republic of Macedonia, it is thought that Hitar Petar (Itar Pejo) is a native of the region of Mariovo

Mariovo

Mariovo is a region in the southern part of Macedonia , situated between the mountains Selechka on the west, Nidze and Kozhuf on the south, Kozjak on the east and Dren...

, an opinion not popular elsewhere, and a monument to the character was built in Prilep

Prilep

Prilep is the fourth largest city in the Republic of Macedonia. It has a population of 66,246 citizens. Prilep is known as "the city under Marko's Towers" because of its proximity to the towers of Prince Marko.-Name:...

.

Hitar Petar Nunatak

Hitar Petar Nunatak

Hitar Petar Nunatak is the rocky hill rising to 462 m on the coast of Prince Gustav Channel, facing Alectoria Island and next south of the terminus of Aitkenhead Glacier on Trinity Peninsula in Graham Land, Antarctica....

 on Trinity Peninsula

Trinity Peninsula

Trinity Peninsula is the extreme northern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula, extending northeastward for about from a line connecting Cape Kjellman and Cape Longing. Dating back more than a century, chartmakers used various names for this portion of the Antarctic peninsula, each name having some...

 in Antarctica is named after the folkloric hero.