John Exarch

Who is John Exarch?

Joan Exarch was a medieval Bulgarian scholar, writer and translator, one of the most important men of letters working at the Preslav Literary School at the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century. Evidence about his life is scarce but his literary legacy suggests an excellent knowledge of Greek. It is generally assumed that Joan Exarch received his education at one of the Byzantine literary schools. Active in medieval Serbia and Bulgaria, regarded part of Byzantine, Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian and Greek literary corpus.

Joan Exarch’s literary work includes a number of translations of medieval Byzantine authors, the most important of which is the translation, around 895, of On Orthodox Christianity by the Byzantine theologian John of Damascus. He is also the author of several original works and compilations, the most important whereof is the compilation Шестоднев. The compilation includes parts of the works of several Byzantine authors, most notably Basil the Great, as well as original parts which give valuable first-hand evidence about the Bulgarian Empire under Simeon I.