Historical figure Vasil Aprilov

Vasil Evstatiev Aprilov was a Bulgarian businessman and educational reformer, born in Gabrovo on 21 July 1789. In 1800, he went with his brother to Moscow, where he completed secondary school, later studying medicine in Vienna.

After returning to Romania, he worked in trade and industry. In 1821, he supported volunteers preparing to cross the Danube during the Greek uprising.

Reading Yuri Venelin's The Ancient and Modern Bulgarians in 1831 transformed his outlook. He turned away from Hellenism and devoted himself to the educational and cultural advancement of Bulgarians.

In 1835, with help from Bulgarian activists and merchants and Metropolitan Hilarion of Tarnovo, he opened the first Bulgarian-language school using the monitorial method in his home town. It later became known as the Aprilov Secondary School.

Besides substantial financial support, he published books that helped shape education during the National Revival. He argued that modern Bulgarian, rather than Church Slavonic or Greek, should form the basis of secular education.

In 1847, Aprilov visited Gabrovo. Returning to Odesa, he died of tuberculosis in Galați. His will left a substantial sum for a new building for the Aprilov school.

His contribution to Bulgarian scholarship lay chiefly in organisation and mediation. He collected antiquities and folk songs and supported and encouraged Bulgarian students and cultural figures.