Public Figures
Many leaders of Bulgarian National Revival were born in Svishtov. One of them is the great Bulgarian satirist Aleko Konstantinov remembered for creating Bay Ganyo, an itinerant peddler of rose oil who remains one of the most popular characters in Bulgarian fiction. His former house is a museum now.
Nikolay Pavlovich - a painter and founder of non-clerical painting school, Aleksandar Bozhinov - founder of Bulgarian caricature, Tzvetan Radoslavov - a philosopher, author of the text of the national anthem of Bulgaria, Dragan Tzankov and Grigor Nachovich - well-known Bulgarian statesmen and public figures were born in Svishtov. Both Vladimir Dimitrov - Maistora or the Master, a famous Bulgarian painter and Nikolai Liliev - a poet worked as teachers in Svishtov.
Telling the history of Svishtov we can say more than hundred times "the first"
The people of Svishtov are proud of their town history quite rightly because Svishtov is connected with many events that put the beginning and set the course of the economic and cultural life in Bulgaria. In 1651 Phillip Stanislavov published the first book written in new Bulgarian language. Phillip Sakelarievich from Svishtov was the first to endow generously his native town for the development of education as early as 1812. Dimitar Hadzhivassilev followed his example and sponsored the building of Public Commercial School in 1895. Elenka and Kiril D. Avramovi left by will their wealth for the building of Chitalishten (reading club) and theater Chitalishtens sprang up in nearly every town and provided a communal forum for cultural and social activities. Dimitar Apostolov Tcenov left by will all his wealth of 50 million BGL for the construction and maintaining a comercial academy of European kind in Svishtov - this is the D.A.Tcenov Academy of Economics.
Hristaki Pavlovich - one of the writers of Bulgarian National Revival had rendered great services to the town. In 1831 he opened here the first form school, in 1833 he published the first arithmetic textbook in Bulgarian language, in 1844 - the first Bulgarian history - a revised version of Slav (Bulgarian History by Paisii of Helendar).
In 1835 Neofit Bozveli and Emanuil Vaskidovich published a six-volume children's encyclopedia. Emanuil Vaskidovich established in 1813 the first non-clerical Hellene-Slav school. On 30 January 1856 the first Chitalishten with a museum was established; in 1856 the first Bulgarian choir managed by Yanko Moustakov started activites; in 1873 the first private commercial school of Dimitar Shishmanov was opened. In 1883/1884 the first public commercial secondary school was opened.