Vasil Evstatiev Aprilov
Aprilov, Vasil Evstatiev
Born July 21, 1789, in Gabrovo; died Oct. 2, 1847, in Galacz. Active figure in the Bulgarian national enlightenment movement.
Born into the family of a merchant, Aprilov received his education at a Greek school in Moscow, a German Gymnasium in Brasov, and the University of Vienna. He lived in Odessa from 1811. In Gabrovo he founded the first secular school in Bulgaria, which opened on Jan. 2, 1835. Aprilov supported the idea of bringing the Bulgarian and Russian cultures closer together.