Natalija Karavelov

Natalija Petrović Karavelov (Serbian Cyrillic: Наталија Петровић Каравелов; Veliko Gradište in Makce, Habsburg Monarchy, 27 April 1836 - Karlovy Vary, Austria-Hungary, 7 July 1906) was a Serbian philanthropist and writer. With her husband, Bulgarian writer and political activist Lyuben Karavelov, she fought for Bulgarian-Ottoman Wars from the Ottoman Empire. She founded the first printing house in liberated Bulgaria. She helped young Serbian literary talents. After Lyuben died, she married Serbian merchant Aksentije Aksentijević and they established the Natalija Karavelov and Aksentije Aksentijević Charitable Fund which existed until World War II in Yugoslavia. As she herself wrote, she also had an ear for literary talents, especially what young people wrote. She knew that they needed support, and she helped them as much as she could.

Biography

Natalija's father, Nedeljko and mother Sevda Petrović were farmers, and her brother, Nastas Petrović (1844-1889), was a professor at the Belgrade's Grande école which became the University of Belgrade in 1905. Natalija and Nastas were socially and culturally active. She also had another brother, Gligorije Petrović.

In June 1868, she married in Sremski Karlovci the Bulgarian writer Lyuben Karavelov, with whom she had no children. Karavelov was often arrested and persecuted for his political ideas, and Natalija supported him in his literary and political work. Natalija's husband was a close friend of Svetozar Marković.

After Karavelov’s death, Natalija got remarried to Aksentije Aksentijević, a prominent merchant and member of Belgrade Merchant Youth, Beogradske Trgovačke Omladine.

She was forced to move in 1890 to Belgrade where she resumed her political activism against the occupying forces in Bulgaria. There she strove to have her late husband's writings published.

She published Radi objašnjenja (In order to clarify).

Life and work in Bulgaria

Natalija Petrović Karavelova helped her husband in both his literary and political work. She also participated in the printing of newspapers. She often exposed herself to great dangers , transferred his writings, money and weapons intended for the insurgents. After the death of her husband, Natalia remained in Bulgaria, where in 1880, a year later, she opened the first printing house in free Bulgaria.

She lived in Ruschuk, from where she helped many Serbian and Bulgarian intellectuals and political emigrants, including Nikola Pašić. In addition, her name was among the associates of many prominent Slavic societies, who helped and participated in their work, reviving the ideas for which her husband fought. She was a favorite of the people, but targeted by the authorities for the help she provided to opponents of the regime. Due to that, a large part of her property was confiscated, after which she moved to Belgrade in 1890.

Life and work in Serbia

By moving to Serbia, her political and social activism did not subside, but became even sharper and bolder. She did everything to publish her husband's manuscripts, and in the end she managed to prepare the works of Ljuben Karavelov and finance the monument in Sofia, Bulgaria, in his honor. She wanted to preserve the memory of him, because she knew how much he did for the freedom of his country.

There she married Aksentije Aksentijević to a prominent Serbian merchant.

She was active for the rest of her life, always finding new motives for big and small battles. She died on 7 July 1905 in Karlovy Vary.

Bibliography

Natalija Petrović Karavelova published a work entitled Radi objašnjenja ("In order to clarify").

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