Bulgarian Folk Songs

Lore & Background

The Miladinov brothers, Dimitar and Konstantin, were inspired by Bulgarian folklore. Dimitar began collecting songs after a visit from Russian Slavist Victor Grigorovich in 1845, who advised him to do so. In 1857, Konstantin took the collection to Moscow but could not find a publisher because the materials were written in Bulgarian with Greek letters. Vasil Cholakov contributed songs and proofreading, but the Miladinov brothers themselves did the primary work of transcribing and preparing the collection for publication. The 665 songs (or 666 in some sources) were collected mainly between 1854 and 1860, most by Dimitar, who taught in several Macedonian towns and recorded 584 songs, mostly from women. Songs from the Elena region were supplied by Sava Filaretov, while those from the Sofia district came from Nesho Bonchev and Marin Drinov. Rayko Zhinzifov also collaborated.

Reader's Guide

The collection was published in 1861 in Zagreb, after Konstantin appealed to Croatian bishop Joseph Strossmayer, who insisted the songs be written in Cyrillic. The brothers called the land 'Western Bulgaria' because they disliked the Greek term 'Macedonia'. The book includes 660 folk songs, legends, traditions, rituals, riddles, and proverbs. It was well-received by contemporaries like Lyuben Karavelov and Nesho Bonchev. American linguist Elias Riggs translated some songs into English. The collection has been republished many times in Bulgaria. In post-war Yugoslav Macedonia, it was published in 1962 and 1983 under a different title, with references to Bulgarians and Bulgaria redacted. In 1999, a reissue under the original title caused backlash from Macedonian historians. The Macedonian State Archive released a photocopy with the word 'Bulgarian' cropped from the title. Bulgarian scholars accuse Macedonian colleagues of falsification, a claim supported by international academic circles. The collection's historical context and authors' national identity remain disputed between North Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Did You Know?

• The collection was originally written in Bulgarian with Greek letters, then the Miladinov brothers themselves transcribed it into Cyrillic before publication.
• Women recited most of the 665 songs (or 666 in some sources) collected by the Miladinov brothers.
• In post-war Yugoslav Macedonia, the collection was published with references to Bulgarians and Bulgaria redacted.
• A 2021 shipment of the original edition to the Bulgarian Cultural Center in Skopje was denied entry into North Macedonia.

The Gathering of Voices

When Russian Slavist Victor Grigorovich visited Dimitar Miladinov in 1845, he urged the young teacher to begin recording the oral traditions around him. That single piece of advice set in motion a project that would span more than a decade. Dimitar, who taught in towns across the region—Ohrid, Struga, Prilep, Kukush, and Bitola—became the primary collector, transcribing 584 songs, most of them recited by local women. His brother Konstantin joined the effort, and together they assembled a corpus of 660 songs gathered mainly between 1854 and 1860. The collection was far from a solo achievement. Sava Filaretov, a schoolmaster in Sofia, supplied songs from his district; Marin Drinov and Nesho Bonchev recorded material from the Panagyurishte area; and Rayko Zhinzifov traveled to Russia with Dimitar's backing. Beyond songs, the brothers wove in folk legends, rituals, riddles, proverbs, and traditional names, creating what would become the single most important anthology in Bulgarian folklore studies.

The Road to Print

Konstantin Miladinov carried the brothers' manuscript to Moscow in 1857, hoping to find a publisher. He was rebuffed. A central obstacle was that the text was written in Bulgarian but rendered in Greek script, which made it difficult for Russian printers to handle. Encouraged by Bulgarian students in the city and aided by Vasil Cholakov—who both contributed additional songs and helped transcribe the material—the project stalled for several more years. In 1860, Konstantin turned to Croatian bishop Joseph Strossmayer, a known sympathizer of the Bulgarian cause. Strossmayer agreed to back the publication but imposed one condition: the songs had to be set in the Cyrillic alphabet rather than Greek letters. Konstantin undertook the laborious task of re-transcribing the entire collection. The preprint was finalized in Đakovo, and the book was ultimately printed in Zagreb by Ante Jakić in 1861. Dedicated to Strossmayer, the volume's preface expressed the brothers' gratitude to Cholakov and their other collaborators, marking the culmination of a decade of patient gathering.

Reception and Scholarly Impact

The volume landed in a scholarly world eager for evidence of Slavic literary vitality. Russian philologist Izmail Sreznevsky, writing in 1863, declared that Bulgarians were far from lagging behind other peoples in poetic ability. In Istanbul, American linguist Elias Riggs translated several songs into English and forwarded them to the American Oriental Society in Princeton. In a 1862 note he described the collection as offering a vivid window into the customs and imaginative life of the Bulgarian masses. Back in the Bulgarian world, contemporaries including Lyuben Karavelov, Nesho Bonchev, Ivan Bogorov, Kuzman Shapkarev, and Rayko Zhinzifov all welcomed the publication. Its influence extended well beyond folklore studies, shaping the trajectory of modern Bulgarian literature. The book has been reprinted repeatedly: a second edition appeared in 1891, published by Dimitar's widow Mitra in the newly liberated Bulgarian Principality; a third followed in 1942 under literary historian Mihail Arnaudov; and a fourth came in 1961, edited by Petar Dinekov. Each new printing reaffirmed the collection's standing as the foundational text of Bulgarian folklore scholarship.

A Book at the Center of National Disputes

The Miladinovs' anthology has never been merely a scholarly artifact; it has become a flashpoint in the long-running dispute over Macedonian and Bulgarian identity. In post-war Yugoslav Macedonia, the first local edition appeared in 1962, followed by a 1983 reprint under the neutral title "The Collection of the Miladinov Brothers." In both cases, every reference to Bulgarians, the Bulgarian language, and the brothers' own designation of the region as "Western Bulgaria" was quietly excised. When independent Macedonia reissued the book in 1999 under its original title—championed by culture minister Dimitar Dimitrov—Macedonian historians protested sharply. A Soros-funded state archive then circulated a photocopy of the title page in which the word "Bulgarian" had been cropped out, leading Bulgarian scholars to accuse their Macedonian counterparts of deliberate falsification, an allegation backed by international academic circles. Macedonian researchers counter that the "Bulgarian" label was added only shortly before printing. To this day, schoolchildren in North Macedonia lack access to the unaltered text, and in March 2021 a shipment of the original edition bound for the Bulgarian Cultural Center in Skopje was refused entry, igniting fresh diplomatic outrage.

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