Paraskev Stoyanov

Paraskev stands for Parashkev. Ivanchov Stoyanov, a Bulgarian doctor, is renowned for his contributions to the fields of surgery and sea therapy within Bulgaria’s healthcare industry.
He has the distinction of being the inaugural professor of surgical propaedeutics at the inaugural medical faculty in Sofia. Additionally, he authored the initial volumes on surgery and established his own surgical school. He demonstrated exceptional organizational skills by overseeing departments, a surgical clinic, and hospitals in Lovech, Ruse, Pleven, and Varna. Additionally, he developed sanatoriums. He regularly participates in local historical endeavors in the towns of Lovech, Pleven, and Varna. An enthusiastic hiker and mountaineer, one of the pioneers in amateur photography, a creative thinker, and a trailblazer. He is widely regarded as a prominent figure in the development of Bulgarian and Romanian anarchism. He possessed proficiency in ten languages.

On January 30, 1871, the individual in question was born in Giurgiu, Romania, to the family of Ivancho Stoyanov, a Bulgarian merchant (1844 – 1917), and Gabriela von Walter, a German merchant (1843 – 1930).

In Paris, he pursued a medical education and actively engaged in an international student conference. Collaborated with the Italian libertarian socialist Francesco Saverio Merlino in the publication of the “Libertarian Manifesto,” resulting in his incarceration. Following a brief period of release, during which he was condemned by a French court in absentia to a two-year prison term and a fine of 3,000 francs, the individual relocated to Italy. Subsequently, they pursued their studies for two semesters in Geneva, Switzerland, where they encountered prominent theorists associated with the anarchist movement, namely Pyotr Kropotkin and Elyse Reclus. From 1891 to 1894, the individual pursued his studies at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Bucharest, during which he cultivated a keen interest in the field of surgery. In 1894, Stoyanov, a final year student, made the decision to graduate in Germany and subsequently fled while his expulsion from Romania was being planned. In July 1895, he obtained a medical degree from Würzburg, Germany. The PhD thesis titled “Uber carcinoma cordis” (“On Carcinoma of the Heart”) was successfully defended by the individual, who thereafter took the Hippocratic Oath.

From 1905 to 1910, he held the position of a senior physician and manager at the public hospital in Varna. He reconstructed and upgraded the hospital and its medical care, introduced the inaugural X-ray machine, and conducted the inaugural surgical procedure on a damaged heart. He established and still oversees the inaugural coastal sanatorium in Varna, which caters to children with scrofulous, lymphatic, and anemic conditions. In Bulgaria, the application of medicinal sea mud signifies the inception of scientific mud therapy. He pioneered the introduction of thalassotherapy, heliotherapy, and fangotherapy (sea therapy, sun therapy, and mud therapy) in Bulgaria. He documented his experiences in Balchishka Tuzla and the Pomorie Lake by writing about them.

He is responsible for organizing the establishment and inauguration of the Varna Aquarium and the children’s sanatorium dedicated to the treatment of bone and joint tuberculosis in Varna. This study delves into the historical aspects of Varna and its surrounding region, providing significant insights into the city’s past, including the Aladzha Monastery, Beaten Stones, and the archeologist brothers Shkorpil, among other notable sites.

On November 14, 1941, he passed away in Sofia. The Medical University in Varna, the Multidisciplinary Hospital for Active Treatment in Lovech, and the Sanatorium for Bone and Joint Tuberculosis in Varna have all been under the patronage of Professor Dr. Paraskev Stoyanov since 2002. The streets located in Pomorie and Varna are named after him.

• Varna Aquarium

• Wikipedia Entry