Dr. Petar Tsonchev

I am Dr. Petar Tsonchev. I was born in Gabrovo on November 8, 1867, into the family of a lawyer and mayor. I graduated from the Aprilov High School and then studied medicine in Kyiv. I was a doctor, a teacher, a public figure, and a philanthropist. But my greatest passion was the history of my hometown. In 1920, I founded the Historiographical Society in Gabrovo and wrote the monographs *From the Economic Past of Gabrovo* and *From the Social and Cultural Past of Gabrovo*. Few people know, however, that Academician Nikola Mikhov, Bulgaria’s greatest bibliographer, called me “the person most deserving of his city after Vasil Aprilov.” This assessment is the most precious award for me. My monument stands in Gabrovo as a token of gratitude from my fellow citizens.