Botev (English spelling) Христо Ботев/Hristo Botev

Bulgarian poet and revolutionary. Born at the foot of the Stara Mountains, the insurgents' base, to a teacher father and a mother with a talent for traditional folk songs. At the age of 15, he went to study in Odessa, but dropped out and returned to his home country after coming into contact with the miserable lives of immigrants and revolutionary ideas. In his hometown, he criticized the ruling classes of Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria, and was pursued by villagers who viewed him as a threat, leading him to Romania. In 1876, he led 200 insurrectionists in hijacking a steamship on the Danube River and repelling a large Turkish army, but was killed by enemy bullets during a strategy meeting. While active as a revolutionary, he published a newspaper and published editorials, critiques, and poems in magazines, striving to enlighten the people. Only about 20 poems remain, but they are all lyric poems of high quality that, while incorporating the form of traditional folk poetry, reveal the misery of the exploited and its roots, and sing of resentment against authority, satire, the loneliness of revolutionaries, love, etc. In particular, "Hadji Dimitar" (1873) is considered a gem of world revolutionary poetry and is widely sung.

[Maki Mikiko]

"Hristo Botev Poems" edited by Alexander Bourmov and translated by Maki Sanko (1976, Kobunsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ブルガリアの詩人、革命家。蜂起(ほうき)者の根拠地スタラ山地の麓(ふもと)で、教師の父と、伝承民謡に優れた母の間に生まれる。15歳でオデッサに留学したが、移民の悲惨な生活や革命思想に触れて退学、帰国した。故郷でギリシアやトルコ、ブルガリアの支配階級を非難したため、危険視した村人に追われルーマニアへ行く。1876年、蜂起者200人を率いてドナウ川で汽船を乗っ取り、トルコの大軍を撃退したが、作戦会議中敵弾に倒れた。革命家として活躍しながら新聞を発行、雑誌にも論説、批評、詩を載せて民衆の啓蒙(けいもう)に努めた。残っている詩はわずか20余編であるが、被搾取者の惨めさとその根源をあらわにし、権力に対する憤り、風刺、革命家の孤独感、愛などを、民族伝承詩の形式を取り入れつつ歌い上げた格調高い叙情詩である。とくに『ハジィ・ディミタル』（1873）は世界革命詩のなかでも珠玉の作とされ、広く愛唱されている。

［真木三三子］

『アレクサンダル・ブールモフ編、真木三三子訳『フリスト・ボテフ詩集』（1976・恒文社）』

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