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THE VERSATILE BOOKMAN DR. I. A. BOGOROV

Ivan Bogorov is born in the town of Karlovo. His birthday, according to the transfer from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, is a. Dec 1820 to Jan 1821. His primary education he received with the famous revival elinist Paino Popovich at his hometown. At 18 years he goes to Tzarigrad to study in the Magnus Schola at Kuru Cheshma, namely for the Greek patriarchate as was the option for many bulgarian youth. Bogorov stays there until 1841 when he moves to Odessa at the French Gymnasium, to the name of Duc Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu /1852-1642/ - founder of the French Academy of Sciences.

In Odessa he meets with other bright bulgarians of the time, viz. N. Gerov, N. Michailovski, D. Chintulov. With some saved money, the young scholar is tempted to continue his education so he travels to Leipzig in 1845. There, while still studying chemistry, Bogorov supports himself by editing a newspaper "Bulgarian Eagle" in the period 1846-1847. Now, in 1847 we see him back in Tzarigrad where he participates in the issues of "Tzarigradski vestnik" and from there he moves to Romania where he stays until 1853.

In Romania it is supposed that he is involved with the activities of the "Dobrodetelna Druzhina" movement; for which he is persecuted from the government. At the eve of the Crimean War /1853-1856/, Bogorov is sponsored by maecenas Christo Georgiev to study medicine in Paris. Five years he spent there and in 1858 we see the newly qualified physician back in Tzarigrad. Later he corresponds to a friend that while studying in Paris he contributed regularly to different medical journals with articles, however, since those materials were anonymous their origin could not be traced. One way or another, after not being able to find a job in Tzarigrad as a physician but editing instead another newspaper "Bulgarski knizhitzi", Bogorov decides to return to his hometown Plovdiv.

In Plovdiv he establishes a private practice and parallel with that he becomes member of the City Municipal Council for three years. For the purposes of his medical practice Bogorov is endowed with a haberdashery /"achtarnitza"/; for which he supplied from Paris. No sooner than 1865 his restless spirit dashes him on another trial - he makes a great roundtrip in the country and in 1868 he publishes a travel diary "My trip round the Bulgarskite Mesta. Bukarest: RaduleskuPrint, 1868". The second one is "My trip round the Stara Planina" by Panayot Hitov - 1872.

In his early fifties Dr. Bogorov has a new attire. This time he goes to Russia to specialize in commodity circulation; a very challenging task for the time. Somewhere about 1873, maybe as early as 1869, he resides back in Tzarigrad and becomes co-editor of financial column /"listak"/ in the politeconomical journal "The Turkije". We will not dwell on his activities in the field, only suffice to say, Dr. Bogorov is author of two monographs and numerous articles in politeconomy.

In the course of the Serbian-Turkish conflict we see Dr. Bogorov engaged, again, as a military physician at station "Javor". During that period he writes his famous treatise "The Village Physician. Vienna: Yanko KovachevPrint, 1875". The book has a short introduction /"obazhdane"/ and three principal parts: 1. On how to prevent our health; 2. On how to make a diagnosis and give a proper medication; 3. On how to beware our animal from illness and to take care when it is sick, etc. The book received a fair response from the medical community, no matter the fact that it was an attempt to introduce a unified medical terminology. This was second in a row, the first being a work from Atanas Granitski twenty years earlier. The book received, also, an alternative response from publicist Luben Karavelov who admitted, in a sense, that it was written by a self-styled charlatan who advocated more on industry than on health matters.

In 1877 when the Rusko-Tursko War is waged, Dr. Bogorov is appointed interpreter in Svishtov. After the liberation Bogorov remains somewhat in neglect, however, he is made honorary member of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Still, the old tycoon remains faithful to his lifetime obligation as a "purist" of Bulgarian language. The list of his works in philology is enormous; more than 200 titles. Thusfar, at the age of 72, on 20 October 1892 he dies from apoplexy in Alexanders hospital in Sofia.