site.btaExhibition Dedicated to Lyubomir Miletich Opens in Bitola

An exhibition dedicated to the Shtip-born Bulgarian Academician Lyubomir Miletich at the Consulate General of Bulgaria in Bitola marked the beginning of the Kliment Days, during which traditionally St. Kliment Ohridski Sofia University celebrates its patron saint. The exhibition titled "Lyubomir Miletich - the first librarian of the university" was prepared by the University Library of the Sofia University, whose first director was Miletich himself.

"With this exhibition we present one of the most important structures in the educational activity of the Sofia Alma Mater - the University Library", said Nikolay Dimitrov, Bulgarian Consul General in Bitola at the opening of the exhibition. "I would like to point out that one of the brightest figures of Bulgarian philological science after the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule - Academician Lyubomir Miletich - made a great contribution to the foundation and development of this important part of the Sofia University. I believe that this Bulgarian scholar, born in Shtip, has retained his popularity among the Bulgarian community in Macedonia, especially among the older generation".

Among the attendants of the event were diplomats from the Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje, the President of the Croatian Society in Bitola, representatives of Bulgarian associations in North Macedonia, five Bulgarian scientists, linguists and historians. The latter were: Bilyana Yavrukova, director of the University Library at Sofia University and lecturer at the Faculty of Philosophy, Nikolay Poppetrov of the Institute for Historical Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), Volodya Milachkov, Administrative Director of the Institute for Historical Studies at BAS, member of the Macedonian Scientific Institute and Chairman of the People's Community Center "Kuzman Shapkarev-2009", Assoc. Prof. Georgi Mitrinov of the Institute for Bulgarian Language "Prof. Lyubomir Andreychin" at BAS and Nikoleta Voynova, PhD student at the Institute for Historical Studies, Section "History of the Bulgarian National Question", who presented various aspects of Miletich's work and his contribution to Bulgarian linguistics and Bulgarian history.

Professor Lyubomir Georgiev Miletich (1863, Shtip, Ottoman Empire - 1937, Sofia, Bulgaria) was one of the most prominent Bulgarian scientists and intellectuals of the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, working in the field of linguistics (especially dialectology), ethnography and history. He was secret advisor to the leaders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) and among the most prominent figures and founder of the Macedonian Scientific Institute established in Sofia. Cape Miletich in Antarctica is named in his honour.