Theodosius of Sinai

Theodosius of Sinai (, ), was a Bulgarian priest and printer. He founded the first Bulgarian printing house in Thessaloniki.

Life

Theodosius was born towards the middle of the second half of the 18th century in the town of Dojran, Ottoman Empire (today in North Macedonia). His exact birth year is unknown. His secular name was Teohar Gogov . His father Gogo had moved to Dojran from the surrounding villages. He was sent to study by his father in Constantinople. After the death of his father, he returned home and became a priest. After the death of his wife, he toured the Macedonian region with the intention to become part of a monastery. He encountered and befriended Kiril Peychinovich, who was then abbot of the Lešok Monastery. In his printing house in 1838, he printed The Initial Doctrine with Morning Prayers in Slavic-Bulgarian and Greek. In the next year, he printed A Brief Description of the Monasteries of Mount Athos and the anti-Semitic tract Jewish Service and all of the wrongs they have done (translated by Nathanael of Ohrid when he was a student along with his teacher, into "simple and plain Bulgarian language"). In 1839, Theodosius' printing house was burned down, but it was soon restored with the financial support of Peychinovich. The fire demotivated Theodosius and he returned to Dojran, where his sons ran a water-mill. In North Macedonia, he is regarded as an ethnic Macedonian, while his language is regarded as Macedonian.