Ivan Vazov was a Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright. He started writing his famous poems with Botev and some other Bulgarian emigrants in Romania. In 1876 he published his first work, “Priaporetz and Gusla”, followed by “Bulgaria's Sorrows’ in 1877. Bulgaria regained its independence in 1878 as a result of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878 and Vazov wrote the famous “Epopee to the Forgotten”. He became the editor of the political reviews “Science” and “Dawn”. He was, however, forced into exile to Odessa, because of the persecution of the russophile political faction. Returning to Bulgaria with the help of his father, he started teaching. He moved to Sofia in 1889 where he started publishing the review “Dennitsa”. Vazov's 1893 novel “Under the Yoke”, which depicts the Ottoman oppression of Bulgaria, is the most famous piece of classic Bulgarian literature and has been translated into over 30 languages. Later in his life Vazov was a prominent and widely respected figure in the social and cultural life of newly independent Bulgaria.
