БЪЛГАРСКИ МЛАДЕЖИ НА УЧЕНИЕ В ТУЛУЗА, ФРАНЦИЯ ПРЕЗ УЧЕБНАТА 1895 – 1896 ГОДИНА
Authors:   Konstantin Preslavsky University of Shumen, Ангелова Росица 
Published: December 2024

The historical narrative presents the Bulgarian youth who chose to continue
their education in educational institutions in the French city of Toulouse during the academic
1895/96 year. The young people were 40, and the chosen specialties were veterinary medicine,
law, and medicine. Two of them studied at the National Lyceum at the university – Petko and
Hristo Yu. Todorovs. Nedyu Bogdanov, N. Georgiev, G. Hamamov, Tsanko Tsankov and Roman
Popov studied veterinary medicine. D. Kiryakov, Boris Ganchev, Petar Brynekov, Vasil Yurukov,
Nikola Lafchiev and Ivan Kirev chose to study law. Nanyu Anastasov, Dimitar Imukov, Ivan
Baichev, Hilarion Burov, Konstantin Petrov, Angel Dimitrov, Georgi Ivanov, Grigor Gradev,
Dragan Berov, Dobri Stoyanov, Yordan Kazandzhiev, Anton Zlatarov, Boris D. Boyadzhiev,
Angel Karaneshev, Petar Ivanov, Hristo study medicine Ivanov, Petar Gachev, Asparuh
Dvoryanov, Simeon Hitov, Dimitar Semerdzhiev, Dimitar Pirinski, Ivan Jeykov, Ivan Truvchev,
Evtim Neikov, Nikola Baltadzhiev, Pericles Nichev and Roman Popov studied medicine.
The review made about the Bulgarian youth studying in Toulouse during the academic
1895/1896 year proved that they had a lasting interest, they were self-supporting, with a
scholarship or were seconded by the Bulgarian state. They did not stand aside from the sociopolitical life in their homeland and led an active social life. There was not a single girl in the
group. The boys came from families with or without educational traditions. Only Petar Branekov
was a second-generation university graduate, as either someone from the family would study or
wass studying in Europe. All students were born in Bulgaria, only Dimitar Kiryakov was from
Lozengrad, Odrinsko, i.e. part of the unrealized Bulgarian ideal. With few exceptions, all
completed their secondary education in Bulgaria and continued their studies in one of the old
and renowned universities in France – the one in Toulouse. Either having graduated from the
university or not, they would return to the Principality of Bulgaria and devote their energies to
its modernization and inclusion in the European context. They would bring socialist and
cooperative ideas. One part continued their education and defended PhD theses: Petar Brnekov,
Dobri Stoyanov, Hr. Ivanov, Hristo Todorov... On Bulgarian soil, Toulouse graduates got
involved in a number of initiatives, worked in the field of the Bulgarian literature and/or built
careers in the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of War. They participated in the wars for
national unification. The newly created social environment fostered friendships and often led to
family kinships. Thus, thanks to the friendship between Boris Ganchev and Petko Yu. Todorov,
the wedding of Todorov with Boris's sister, Raina Gancheva, took place.
The Bulgarian young people who studied in Toulouse during the academic 1895-1896
year are a representative sample of the overall development of the Bulgarian education, of the
state and attitude of the Ministry of Education towards the Bulgarian students in Europe and the
building of the Bulgarian elite at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.