Petar Parchevich's Letter to the Papal Nuncio Mario Albertsi of 29-September 1673 First Bulgarian Autobiography

The current article presents the letter from 1673 written by Peter Parchevich, Arch-bishop of Marcianopolis and at that time Apostolic Vicar and Administrator of Moldova, a very important figure in the history of Bulgarian Catholics, as well as in the history of Bulgaria as a whole, to the Papal Nuncio in Vienna Mario Alberizzi. Written in connection with Parchevich's diplomatic mission to Western Europe on behalf of the rulers of the Danubian Principalities, this text can be considered the first Bulgarian autobiography. The article examines the reasons and circumstances behind the writing of the autobiographical letter, highlighting its apologetic character. A translation into Bulgarian is provided for the letter, originally written in Latin.