Nikola Milev
Encyclopedia
Professor Nikola Iliev Milev was a Bulgaria
n historian
, publicist
, public figure, diplomat
, and a participant in the Macedonian revolutionary movement.
, Florina Prefecture
, Greece
), a Bulgarian-populated village in Macedonia
, then in the Ottoman Empire
. He finished the Bulgarian primary school in his birthplace and went with his father to Cairo
, Egypt
, where he lived for a period. He continued his education in French
Galatasaray High School in Tsarigrad (Istanbul
). In 1902, he was a teacher in Istanbul and worked for Simeon Radev
's newspaper Evening Mail. He then studied at the Sofia University
, from where he graduated in history (1903–1909). With the recommendations of Professor Vasil Zlatarski
and with a Marin Drinov scholarship, Milev specialized history in Vienna
, Florence
and Rome
from 1910 to 1912.
During the Balkan Wars
, Milev was an interpreter at the headquarters of the Second Bulgarian Army. After the Balkan Wars, he became an associate professor at the Department of Bulgarian History and History of the Balkan Nations at Sofia University (1915–1922).
In 1918 Milev, became director of the press at the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
. He was among the founders of the political party People's Accord (Naroden sgovor) in 1921. In 1922, he worked as the head of the daily newspaper Slovo ("Speech"). As President of the Association of the Journalists in Sofia, he protected the freedom of speech and press and, as grandmaster of the Zora freemason's lodge
, he advocated for the cause of the Macedonian Bulgarians and an autonomous Macedonia
. Regardless of his negative attitude towards the policy of the Bulgarian Premier Aleksandar Stamboliyski
, Milev was included in the Bulgarian delegation at the Conference of Lausanne
in 1922.
Nikola Milev was considered among the potential foreign ministers of the new government after the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1923
, but was rejected for of fear of the reaction of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and Greece. He was member of Bulgarian parliament
in 1923–1925 and served as adviser to the Bulgarian representation in the League of Nations
in Geneva
.
In 1925 Milev was selected as the representative of Bulgaria in the United States
, but was killed days before his departure. The decision to kill Milev was taken by a group of Macedonian figures around Dimitar Vlahov
. It is believed that Milev was one of the main ideological opponents to the Comintern
and its supporters in the Macedonian movement. The decision to murder Milev was approved by Stanke Dimitrov
and the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party
.
Milev's funeral on 15 February 1925 was one of the most crowded in Sofia in those years. His murder increased tension in the Bulgarian society in this period. The actual killer was captured by Macedonian workers, and after his confession was killed by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), but instead of the actual instigators, their supporters deputies Todor Strashimirov and Haralampi Stoyanov were killed.
Nikola Milev joined IMORO as a student in 1898, but more actively joined the activities of the organizations of Macedonian Bulgarians after 1919. He participated in the activities of the Macedonian brotherhood in Sofia and cooperated with the periodicals of the Macedonian Bulgarians. Although he wasn't an IMRO member after World War I, along with the professors Lyubomir Miletich
and Ivan Georgov Nikola Milev was advisor to the leader of IMRO Todor Aleksandrov
. Milev was one of the opponents of the communist attempts to take control over Macedonian organizations.
Nikola Milev was one of the moral and intellectual leaders of the refugees from Macedonia. Ivan Mihailov
describes him thus:
"He possessed a combination of humility and firm conviction. His all person and especially his speech exhales an angelic warmth and security. He spoke simply and cordially. And all that he said was in due measure. He won with by means of his tact, amazed with his mind, conquered through his modesty... He had a chosen place among the elite of Bulgarian intellectuals that was difficult to fill again.”
Nikola Milev became one of the founders of the Macedonian Scientific Institute
in 1923 and was elected to its first Board of Directors.
propaganda in Bulgaria during the Ottoman period and the Catholic Bulgarians
. His monography of 1914 Catholic Propaganda in Bulgaria in the 18th Century is highly appreciated and it paved the way to his career of a university professor. This book has been defined as "brilliant" in the Bulgarian historiography.
In the period 1914-1923 Nikola Milev was a free associate professor of history at Sofia University, and from 1923 on was a professor.
In 1923 Nikola Milev became one of the founders of the Macedonian Scientific Institute
and was elected to his first Board of Directors.
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 historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, publicist
Publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...
, public figure, diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, and a participant in the Macedonian revolutionary movement.
Biography
Milev was born in Mokreni (today VarikoVariko
Variko is a village and a former community in Florina peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Amyntaio, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 27 km south-southeast of the city of Florina. The population in 2001 was 698....
, Florina Prefecture
Florina Prefecture
Florina is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Macedonia. Its capital is the town of Florina.-Geography:Florina borders the regional units of Pella to the east, Kozani to the south and Kastoriá to the southwest...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
), a Bulgarian-populated village in 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...
, then in the Ottoman Empire
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...
. He finished the Bulgarian primary school in his birthplace and went with his father to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, where he lived for a period. He continued his education in French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Galatasaray High School in Tsarigrad (Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
). In 1902, he was a teacher in Istanbul and worked for Simeon Radev
Simeon Radev
Simeon Traychev Radev was a Bulgarian writer, journalist, diplomat and historian most famous for his two-volume book The Builders of Modern Bulgaria....
's newspaper Evening Mail. He then studied at the Sofia University
Sofia University
The St. Clement of Ohrid University of Sofia or Sofia University is the oldest higher education institution in Bulgaria, founded on 1 October 1888...
, from where he graduated in history (1903–1909). With the recommendations of Professor Vasil Zlatarski
Vasil Zlatarski
Vasil Nikolov Zlatarski was a Bulgarian historian-medievalist, archaeologist, and epigraphist.- Life :Vasil Zlatarski was born in Veliko Tarnovo in 1866, the youngest child of the teacher Nikola Zlatarcheto who was a prominent activist in the educational movement and the religious and national...
and with a Marin Drinov scholarship, Milev specialized history in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
from 1910 to 1912.
During the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
, Milev was an interpreter at the headquarters of the Second Bulgarian Army. After the Balkan Wars, he became an associate professor at the Department of Bulgarian History and History of the Balkan Nations at Sofia University (1915–1922).
In 1918 Milev, became director of the press at the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bulgaria)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria is the ministry charged with overseeing the foreign relations of Bulgaria. It has been in existence since shortly after the Liberation of Bulgaria, with the first minister stepping into office on 17 July 1879...
. He was among the founders of the political party People's Accord (Naroden sgovor) in 1921. In 1922, he worked as the head of the daily newspaper Slovo ("Speech"). As President of the Association of the Journalists in Sofia, he protected the freedom of speech and press and, as grandmaster of the Zora freemason's lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
, he advocated for the cause of the Macedonian Bulgarians and an autonomous 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...
. Regardless of his negative attitude towards the policy of the Bulgarian Premier Aleksandar Stamboliyski
Aleksandar Stamboliyski
Aleksandar Stamboliyski was the prime minister of Bulgaria from 1919 until 1923. Stamboliyski was a member of the Agrarian Union, an agrarian peasant movement which was not allied to the monarchy, and edited their newspaper...
, Milev was included in the Bulgarian delegation at the Conference of Lausanne
Conference of Lausanne
The Conference of Lausanne was a conference held in Lausanne, Switzerland during 1922 and 1923. Its purpose was the negotiation of a treaty to replace the Treaty of Sèvres, which, under the new government of Kemal Pasha, was no longer recognised by Turkey....
in 1922.
Nikola Milev was considered among the potential foreign ministers of the new government after the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1923
Bulgarian coup d'état of 1923
The Bulgarian coup d'état of 1923, also known as the 9 June coup d'état , was a coup d'état in Bulgaria implemented by armed forces under General Ivan Valkov's Military Union on the eve of 9 June 1923...
, but was rejected for of fear of the reaction of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and Greece. He was member of Bulgarian parliament
National Assembly of Bulgaria
The National Assembly of Bulgaria is the unicameral parliament and body of the legislative of the Republic of Bulgaria.The National Assembly of Bulgaria was established in 1879 with the Constitution of Bulgaria.-Ordinary National Assembly:...
in 1923–1925 and served as adviser to the Bulgarian representation in the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
.
In 1925 Milev was selected as the representative of Bulgaria in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but was killed days before his departure. The decision to kill Milev was taken by a group of Macedonian figures around Dimitar Vlahov
Dimitar Vlahov
Dimitar Yanakiev Vlahov was a revolutionary from the region of Macedonia and member of the left wing of the Macedonian-Adrianople revolutionary movement...
. It is believed that Milev was one of the main ideological opponents to the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
and its supporters in the Macedonian movement. The decision to murder Milev was approved by Stanke Dimitrov
Stanke Dimitrov
Stefan Dimitrov Todorov , better known as Stanke Dimitrov or under the pseudonym Marek , was a high-ranking Bulgarian Communist Party activist and anti-fascist. He was one of the supporters of a plan that later went on to become the St Nedelya Church assault....
and the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party
Bulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party was the communist and Marxist-Leninist ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when the country ceased to be a communist state...
.
Milev's funeral on 15 February 1925 was one of the most crowded in Sofia in those years. His murder increased tension in the Bulgarian society in this period. The actual killer was captured by Macedonian workers, and after his confession was killed by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), but instead of the actual instigators, their supporters deputies Todor Strashimirov and Haralampi Stoyanov were killed.
Milev in the Macedonian movement
Lyubomir Miletich
Lyubomir Miletich was a leading Bulgarian linguist, ethnographer, dialectologist and historian, as well as the chairman of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences from 1926 to his death....
and Ivan Georgov Nikola Milev was advisor to the leader of IMRO Todor Aleksandrov
Todor Aleksandrov
Todor Aleksandrov Poporushov also transliterated as Todor Alexandrov also spelt Alexandroff, was a Bulgarian freedom fighter and member of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees since 1897 and later of the Central Committee of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary...
. Milev was one of the opponents of the communist attempts to take control over Macedonian organizations.
Nikola Milev was one of the moral and intellectual leaders of the refugees from Macedonia. Ivan Mihailov
Ivan Mihailov
Ivan Mihailov Gavrilov , was a Bulgarian revolutionary in Ottoman and interwar Macedonia, and leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization after 1924.-Early years:...
describes him thus:
"He possessed a combination of humility and firm conviction. His all person and especially his speech exhales an angelic warmth and security. He spoke simply and cordially. And all that he said was in due measure. He won with by means of his tact, amazed with his mind, conquered through his modesty... He had a chosen place among the elite of Bulgarian intellectuals that was difficult to fill again.”
Nikola Milev became one of the founders of the Macedonian Scientific Institute
Macedonian Scientific Institute
The Macedonian Scientific Institute , is a Bulgarian scientific organisation, which studies the Region of Macedonia and mostly the Macedonian Bulgarians.-Establishment and activity:...
in 1923 and was elected to its first Board of Directors.
Scholarly work
Nikola Milev's research covers various periods of the historical development of the Bulgarian people: from the 7th century until the time of the Bulgarian Revival. He published his first studies in the scientific journals Periodical Journal, Proceedings of the Bulgarian Historical Society and others. The most famous of his works are those dealing with the CatholicRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
propaganda in Bulgaria during the Ottoman period and the Catholic Bulgarians
Roman Catholicism in Bulgaria
Roman Catholicism is the third largest religious congregation in Bulgaria, after Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam. It has roots in the country since the Middle Ages and is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome.As an entity, the Catholic...
. His monography of 1914 Catholic Propaganda in Bulgaria in the 18th Century is highly appreciated and it paved the way to his career of a university professor. This book has been defined as "brilliant" in the Bulgarian historiography.
In the period 1914-1923 Nikola Milev was a free associate professor of history at Sofia University, and from 1923 on was a professor.
In 1923 Nikola Milev became one of the founders of the Macedonian Scientific Institute
Macedonian Scientific Institute
The Macedonian Scientific Institute , is a Bulgarian scientific organisation, which studies the Region of Macedonia and mostly the Macedonian Bulgarians.-Establishment and activity:...
and was elected to his first Board of Directors.