Kuzman Anastasov Shapkarev (Bulgarian and ; 1 January 1834 â 18 March 1909) was a Bulgarian folklorist and ethnographer from the Ottoman region of Macedonia, author of textbooks and ethnographic studies, and a figure of the Bulgarian National Revival.
Kuzman Shapkarev was born in Ohrid in 1834. Shapkarev initially studied under his uncle . He was a teacher in a number of Bulgarian schools in Ohrid, Bitola, Prilep, Kukush, Thessaloniki, (18541883). In these towns, he was especially active in introducing the Bulgarian language in local schools. ÃÂõ initiated the establishment of two Bulgarian high schools (Bulgarian men's high school and Bulgarian girls' high school) in Thessaloniki in the 1880s.
He wrote the following textbooks: "A Bulgarian Primer" (1866), "A Big Bulgarian Reader" (1868), "Mother tongue" (1874), "Short Land description (Geography)" (1868), "Short Religion Book" (1868), which were published in Istanbul. Shapkarev criticized the dominance of eastern Bulgarian and even declared that it was incomprehensible in Macedonia. In his (Golema balgarska chitanka) from 1868, which he authored under the pseudonym "One Macedonian" (Edin Makedonets), he stated his intention to write in a language understandable to his compatriots, the Macedonian Bulgarians. He also announced a project of a dictionary that would contain translation from Macedonian into Upper Bulgarian and vice versa. This activity was condemned by the Bulgarian press, which even accused him of advocating the existence of a separate Macedonian language and a distinct history of the Macedonian people. Shapkarev regarded his language as Bulgarian and adhered to Bulgarian nationalism. Bulgarian philologist Marin Drinov rejected his proposal for a mixed eastern and western Bulgarian (Macedonian) basis of the Bulgarian standard language. The Russian philologist Pyotr Draganov described Shapkarev's work as "protecting the Macedonian dialects from assimilation by the Bulgarianness".
Shapkarev was a contributor of many Bulgarian newspapers and magazines â "Tsarigradski vestnik" (Constantinople newspaper), "Gayda" (Bagpipe), "Macedonia", "Pravo" (Justice), "Savetnik" (Adviser), "Balgarska pchela" (Bulgarian bee) and others. Shapkarev was a collaborator of the revolutionary Georgi Rakovski and in the field of ethnography, he assisted the Miladinov brothers.
He married Dimitar Miladinov's daughter but she died in 1870. After 1883 he lived in Eastern Rumelia and Bulgaria â in Plovdiv, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Vraca and Orhanie (Botevgrad). Along with his scientific and public occupation in Bulgaria, he worked as a notary and a judge.
From 1900 he was a regular member of the Bulgarian Literary Society. He died in 1909.
His autobiographical book is called "Materials for the Revival of Bulgarian national spirit in Macedonia".
His first son was an activist of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, while the second â was a high-ranking Bulgarian Army officer. His grandson was a Bulgarian economist and chairman of the Macedonian Scientific Institute, while his great-grandson was a Bulgarian sculptor.
In the International Congress of Slavists in 1968, Macedonian academics attempted to present Shapkarev as a proponent for a separate Macedonian language. In response, their Bulgarian colleagues publicly read a passage from Shapkarev where he declared his Bulgarian ethnicity. He is an important figure in the Bulgarian and Macedonian historical narrative, with him being regarded as an ethnic Macedonian in the latter narrative. Shapkarev Buttress on the Fallières Coast, Antarctica, is named after Kuzman Shapkarev. The , one of the first specialized high schools in Sofia, carries his name.