Yordan Hadzhikonstantinov-Dzhinot

Hadzhikonstantinov devoted all his life to the cause of secular public education, and he actively promoted the idea of enforcement of spoken vernacular in the schools and applying of modern pedagogical practices.

Biography Yordan Hadzhikonstantinov, nicknamed Dzhinot, was born around 1818 in Veles, Ottoman Empire (today North Macedonia). Hadzhikonstantinov received his education in Veles, continuing his education in Samokov and the Greek gymnasium in Thessaloniki. Per historian Vemund Aarbakke, as a strong nationalist, he did not permit church singing in Greek in his part of town, nor did he permit Greek teachers in the community. He soon came into conflict with the Phanariot bishop. For three years, he was persecuted by that bishop until he was forced to leave Veles. Soon, in 1853, he came into a sharp conflict with a bishop and the Greek clergy. He was accused of being a Russian spy and for "inciting Serbs and Bulgarians to revolt." His grave is located in the yard of the church of St. Spas in Veles.

Works, views and legacy Influenced by ideas locating the Indo‑European homeland in India, Hadzhikonstantinov argued that the Bulgarians' origins lay in Vedic India and drew direct parallels between Bulgarian and Sanskrit. He openly stated: " I am Bulgarian, and I bewail our lost Bulgarians, who are in Lower Moesia, and it is our duty to lay down our life for our brothers, the dearest Bulgarians". In the 1850s, Hadzhikonstantinov published a chronicle called "A Story about the Restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate in 1235" in Belgrade in 1855. He collaborated with the newspapers "Bulgarian Books" and "Macedonia". On 19 July 1852, in Tsarigradski Vestnik, he published his article "Bulgarian Writing", in which he wrote:

Per Victor Friedman, the Bulgarian rejection of textbooks written in Macedonian dialects, and the reactions this provoked, contributed to the emergence of a distinct Macedonian linguistic and ethnic consciousness. According to historian Roumen Daskalov, Hadzhikonstantinov endorsed Slavophile and Pan-Slav views, to dissolve the Bulgarian identity and community into the wider Slavic identity and community, perhaps due to a feeling of inferiority in front of Greek culture in Macedonia and the need to have a common Slavic identity, culture and language. In 1856, in his letter to Society of Serbian Letters, he wrote: "I remain ready to serve you most usefully and quietly as a Serb." In the same letter, he declared himself as a "Serbian son", and wrote: "You cannot understand how much my heart burns for our dearest Serbdom, for which I am ready to sacrifice myself.". In his letters to the society, he stressed that Greek bishops and Grecomans were a greater evil than the Turks. He remained a bachelor throughout his life.