Aprilov National High School
Encyclopedia
Gabrovo
Gabrovo is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province. It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international capital of humour and satire , as well as noted for its Bulgarian National...
is the first modern secular school in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. It was opened on 2 January 1835, when Bulgaria was still part of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, with the financial help of Vasil Aprilov
Vasil Aprilov
Vasil Evstatiev Aprilov was a Bulgarian educator. He studied in Moscow, graduated from a high school in Braşov and then pursued a medical degree in Vienna. After 1811 he was a merchant in Odessa. He initially participated in the Greek revolutionary movement, but later devoted himself to the...
, Nikola Palauzov, Vasil Rasheev and other wealthy Bulgarians
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
and was based on the Bell-Lancaster method
Bell-Lancaster method
The Monitorial System was an education method that became popular on a global scale during the early 19th century. This method was also known as "mutual instruction" or the "Bell-Lancaster method" after the British educators Dr Andrew Bell and Joseph Lancaster who both independently developed it...
.
Formed as the Gabrovo School, it took the name of its primary benefactor, Vasil Aprilov, in 1889. The school still exists today, having returned to its historic building in 1992 and it is one of the most prestigious high schools in Bulgaria.
The current headmistress is Anna Marinova (Ана Маринова)