Revolutionary Ivan Karshovski

Ivan Pophristov Karshovski was a Bulgarian national revolutionary, man of letters, public figure and journalist born in 1839 in Elena. He was the eldest son of the priest Hristo Ivanov Karshovski, who had seven sons and two daughters in total.

Ivan Karshovski studied in Elena and Svishtov. He taught in various towns, including Elena, Elhovo and Hadzhioglu Pazardzhik. During the Crimean War of 1853–1856, Georgi Rakovski visited Father Hristo Karshovski's home in Elena several times.

In 1862 he participated in the First Bulgarian Legion and was wounded in a clash with the Turks, particularly during the bombardment of Belgrade. He subsequently worked as a teacher in various settlements and joined Panayot Hitov's detachments and the Second Bulgarian Legion.

After a short stay in Odesa, Ivan Karshovski settled in Romania, where he taught in Giurgiu and Ploiești. In 1869 he co-founded the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee (BRCC) and became a close associate of Vasil Levski. He was known by the pseudonym "Uzun Muratoglu".

An exceptionally learned man, Ivan Karshovski was a polyglot who spoke seven foreign languages: Turkish, Greek, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, German and French. He played an important role in establishing the Bulgarian Literary Society, which laid the foundations for the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Ivan Karshovski was also known as a journalist and man of letters. He edited the newspapers "Vulturul" (Eagle) in 1876 and "Independența Națională" (National Independence) in 1877 in the Romanian town of Giurgiu. After the Liberation from Ottoman rule, he became a judge and lawyer and a member of the Liberal Party.

In 1881, Karshovski settled in Sofia, where he continued working as a lawyer and journalist. He edited the newspapers "Struma" in 1889, "Vardar" in 1889–1891 and "Yunak" (Hero) in 1898–1900. Together with Ivan Bobevski, he also contributed to Bulgarian and Romanian periodicals. He published several books, including "A New Bulgarian Holy Mountain: Buzludzha" (1898), "Misunderstanding" (1899) and "The Romanian-Bulgarian Quarrel and Its True Causes" (books 1–3, 1900).

Ivan Karshovski died in Sofia on 1 March 1914.