Dobri Voynikov

Dobri Popov Voynikov was a Bulgarian teacher, playwright and journalist of the Bulgarian National Revival. He is regarded as the father of modern Bulgarian theatre and the first Bulgarian producer. Voynikov was among the founders of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Voynikov was born in the city of Şumnu, Ottoman Empire in 1833 and studied at Sava Filaterov, Ivan Bogorov and Sava Dobropolodni's schools. He graduated from the Galatasaray High School in Istanbul in 1858 and became a teacher in Shumen, where he remained until 1864. In Shumen, he was an active public figure and took an active part in the Bulgarian Church struggle and the establishment of secular Bulgarian education.