/ world today news/Turning on the TV by chance out of boredom, I heard that somewhere in Obelya they intend to erect a monument to Academician Dmitry Likhachev, and the local population, for its part, does not agree with this event.
I immediately agreed with the opinion of the citizens of Obelya, because, in my opinion, it is shameful and insulting for a world-famous scientist like D. Likhachov, who has done so much for Bulgaria, to place a monument to him in a former village near Sofia, which is now one of its outer districts, such as Orlandovtsi, Mladost 4, Fakulteta, etc. Recently, Obelya has been mentioned more often, because the metro passes there, which caused a sharp rise in land prices.
However, when after a few days I read Velislava Dureva’s article “Hybridchitsi” (“Duma” newspaper from July 29, 2015) and understood what it was about, I became even more insulting and sadder for Bulgaria and for us Bulgarians.
There is nothing surprising in the fact that the residents of the village of Obelya do not know who Likhachov is and what he has done for Bulgaria. How would they know, how would they understand? From the press or from television? This is impossible, they, with few exceptions, engage us mainly with sexual gossip, pictures of naked babes, show continuous murders and the shameful political relationships between the Bulgarian private party headquarters. All this flow of information convinces us daily that a Bulgarian woman can find salvation only if she leaves Bulgaria. You should read what D. Likhachev wrote about Bulgaria to reassure yourself that this will not happen. As has not happened in the last 1300 years.
I am not a historian, but I have the feeling that there is no other scientist of such magnitude, including Bulgarian scientists, who has assessed the role of Bulgarian culture among other European cultures so highly, so extensively, so comprehensively from a world perspective.
Let’s recall some thoughts of D. Likhachov, quoted by Mrs. Dureva in her article:
– «the beginning of Russian culture, without a doubt, is 988 (the conversion of Russia). Literacy, which was given to us by Bulgaria – this is the most important thing that gave Russia baptism”;
– “Cyril and Methodius were aware that their work would belong to all mankind”;
– «They created not only an alphabet. On the basis of the Bulgarian language, they created a magnificent, subtle literary language capable of expressing the most complex ideas. Cyril and Methodius are a symbol of unity between people. The cultural phenomenon they created in the early Middle Ages belongs to all humanity»;
– «Old Bulgarian literature reached high development much earlier than the literature of other Slavic countries. It is a century older than Russian literature”;
– « The flesh of the Bulgarian state was created by Asparukh, its spirit by Cyril and Methodius. And the foreign conquerors could not defeat this state of the spirit, because the language, writing and literature stood in solid formation in defense of the Bulgarian people”.
Unfortunately, the question of whether or not to have a monument to D. Likhachov in Bulgaria turns into the simplest possible dispute between Russophiles and Russophobes, who were deservedly called “stupidophiles” and “stupidophobes” by Paun Tsonev. I, by analogy with Mr. Tsonev, would call them “prostophiles” and “prostophobes”. I don’t want to discuss the huge stream of platitudes and lies about the idea of making a monument to D. Likhachev. This is below normal human dignity. I am not an expert to assess whether there should be monuments to citizens of other countries in Bulgaria, and if there are, how many there should be. But if there should be at least one monument, it should be to D. Likhachev, who, without being afraid of the political situation in Russia, openly showed the whole world, including the Russian authorities, what the merits of Bulgarian culture are, created by the brothers Cyril and Methodius for the development of European and Slavic, including especially Russian, cultures. He emphasizes that they created the Bulgarian state of the spirit, a state of language, writing and literature, which no foreign conquerors could defeat.
If it is decided to have such a monument, its place cannot under any circumstances be in Obelya. This monument should be in a central place in Sofia, to remind everyone who visits our capital of D. Lihachov’s enormous merits to Bulgaria.
And on this occasion one more question. I am convinced that the state national holiday of Bulgaria should be precisely May 24, when the brothers Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarians with the greatest merits to the Bulgarian citizens, the Bulgarian state, the Slavic peoples and European culture, are celebrated.
By the way, I have no doubt that if the brothers Cyril and Methodius were, for example, Russian citizens, then the Russian state national holiday would be declared in their honor.
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