BOTEV, KHRISTO

born Jan. 6, 1849, Kalofer, Rumelia, Ottoman Empire [now in Bulgaria] died June 1, 1876, near Mount Veslez, Bulg. patriot and poet, one of the heroes of the Bulgarian national revolutionary movement against Turkish rule. In 1863 Botev was sent to complete his education in Russia, where he was much influenced by nihilist ideas. He returned to Bulgaria in 1867 but then fled to Romania. There he lived in poverty, devoting himself to the Bulgarian liberation movement through journalistic, literary, and organizational activity. A collection of his patriotic verses, Pesni u stihove (Songs and Verses), appeared in 1875. During the Bulgarian rising of early May 1876 he reentered Bulgaria with a small band of rebels, but he was killed by regular Turkish troops within a few days of his return.