Lyuben Karavelov

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Lyuben Karavelov (Bulgarian: Любен Каравелов) (c. 1834 - 21 January 1879) was a Bulgarian writer and an important figure of the Bulgarian National Revival.

Karavelov was born in Koprivshtitsa. He began his education in a church school, but in 1850 he moved to the school of Nayden Gerov in Plovdiv. He was then sent by his father to study in a Greek school for two years, before transferring to a Bulgarian school, where he also studied Russian literature. He moved to Odrin for an apprenticeship, but he soon came back to Koprivshtitsa and was sent to Tsarigrad in 1856. There he initiated his strong interest in politics and the Crimean War. At the same time, he studied the culture and ethnography of the region.

Karavelov became a friend of Bulgarian revolutionary and poet Hristo Botev (the latter devoted one of his poems to him), but after the capture and execution of Vassil Levski in 1873 Karavelov abandoned his revolutionary ideas thus attracting Botev's severe criticism.

Karavelov died soon after liberation of Bulgaria in Rousse.

Karavelov's works include the novel "The little child of mum" (Bulgarian: „Маминото детенце“; "Maminoto detentse"), which is considered as one of the first original Bulgarian novels. His brother Petko Karavelov was a prominent figure of Bulgaria's political life from the end of the 19th century.