“I wrote Levski for myself; Gotse Delchev – for Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people.” In memory of Mercia MacDermott (1927 – 2023)

“I WROTE LEVSKI FOR MYSELF; GOTSE DELCHEV – FOR BULGARIA AND THE BULGARIAN PEOPLE”. IN MEMORY OF MERCIA MACDERMOTT (1927 – 2023) 

 Elena Alexandrova 

 (Summary) 

Undoubtedly, the research conducted by the British historian and writer Mercia MacDermott, among which the pivotal biographies of the Bulgarian revolutionaries Vasil Levski, Gotse Delchev and Yane Sandanski, has contributed to Bulgarian history scholarship, but more importantly, they popularized some important moments of our past among the British and Western European public. The strong emotional impulse with which the British researcher began to write each of her works did not exclude, but rather complemented her serious and meticulous research approach. Her particular interest in the liberation revolutionary movement of the Bulgarians in Macedonia grew for her into a cause that she followed until the end of her life. 

Keywords: Mercia MacDermott, British history science, biographies, Vasil Levski, Gotse Delchev, national liberation movement of the Bulgarians in Macedonia