Vasil Zlatarski

Infobox Person
name = Prof. Vasil Zlatarski


image_size = 150px
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1866|11|14|df=y
birth_place = Veliko Turnovo, present-day Bulgaria
death_date = death date and age|1935|12|15|1866|11|14|df=y
death_place = Sofia, Bulgaria
occupation =
spouse =

Vasil Nikolov Zlatarski was a Bulgarian historian-medievist, archaeologist, and epigraphist. He is a representative of historical objectivism, and belongs to the positivistic school. Zlatarski played a leading role in the development of the Bulgarian history science for four decades since the end of 19th century, its popularisation, and the establishment and support of the education in Bulgarian history at Sofia University. He is considered one of the greatest names in the Bulgarian historiography with his three-volume "History of the Bulgarian State in the Middle ages".

Life

Vasil Zlatarski was born in Veliko Tarnovo in 1866, the youngest child of the teacher Nikola Zlatarcheto ('Goldsmith') who was a prominent activist in the educational movement and the religious and national struggle in the Tarnovo region before the Liberation. Zlatarski obtained his education in Veliko Tarnovo (until 3rd grade) and in the Peter and Paul Seminary near Tarnovo where he was preparing for priesthood. After the early death of his father, he went to his brother in Russia, where in 1887 he graduated the First Classical Lyceum in St. Petersburg. Studied History at the University of St. Petersburg in 1891 and as a post-graduate in Berlin in 1893-1895. Then he returned to Bulgaria and became a high-school teacher in Sofia and Lecturer in the Higher School (now the University of Sofia).