Tsvetan Radoslavov

Who was Tsvetan Radoslavov?

Tsvetan Radoslavov Hadzhidenkov was a Bulgarian teacher and the author of the current national anthem of Bulgaria, Mila Rodino.

Born in Svishtov in 1863, he graduated in philosophy in Leipzig. In 1885, while en route to the battlefield during the Serbo-Bulgarian War, Radoslavov composed the song Gorda Stara Planina, which was polished by the composer Dobri Hristov in 1905 and became a national anthem of Bulgaria in 1963 as Mila Rodino.

Besides creating the Bulgarian national anthem, Radoslavov was also a prominent scientist. He was one of the three Bulgarians that took their doctor's degree by the father of modern psychology, Wilhelm Wundt. Rejecting invitations to work as a teacher in Vienna, Leipzig and Prague, he returned to Bulgaria to work at the Third High School for Boys in Sofia, believing he was helping the development of modern Bulgaria by teaching students European and ancient languages, psychology, ethics and logic.

Radoslavov lived in a small apartment at 3 Angel Kanchev Street, where he is today commemorated by a plaque by Georgi Chapkanov.