Neophyte Rilsky is a prominent writer of the Bulgarian national revival, educator, one of the first scientists encyclopedists in the new history of Bulgaria, the patron in the South-West university "Neophte Rilsky" in Blagoevgrad, considered in Bulgarian national history as the distinguished teacher and humanist, who had established in 1835 year the first secular Bulgarian school in the town of Gabrovo.

And the first Bulgarian grammar, issued during the same year, will unify the regularities of all Bulgarian dialects, and will became a powerful catalyst of the development of contemporary Bulgarian literature language.

He had obeyed his being of citizenry deed: he makes regulations, issues textbooks and biographyes, translates the Gospels, writes Church-Slavonic music, reads sermons and stories; thus uniting the faith and the speech in a fight against foreign intrusion, turning the knowledge into a powerful tool for preservation and exalting Bulgarian self-awareness.

Everything is done with the clear understanding that the school is the weapon, that will unify the Bulgarian cultural and ethnic elbow-room. Neophyte Rilsky is among the pleiade of Bulgarian enlighteners, who succeeded in changing the way of thinking of intellectuals, and this way determined (in first part of the 20th century) the strategic goals of Bulgarian nation for a century-ahead - struggle for an independent Bulgarian church, and for reviving the independent Bulgarian state.

Nikola Popetrov Benin - the future Neophyte Rilsky (1793-1881), was born in Bansko (60 kilometers southward from Blagoevgrad, situated at the foot of the Pirin mountain, at present one of the elite European winter resorts). Some modern Bulgarian etymologists bind the origin of the city's name, as well as the origin of the family names of the Benini (Banovi, Baanovi), to the substantive- "Ban" whose semantics connects with the slavic noun "prince".
It is known that this settlement deterred the Byzantine influence during the Second Bulgarian Kingdom; and during the 5 centuries turkish domination the city kept its independent status. In this meaning the claim appears trustworthy, and "Bansko" is equivalent to "Princely, of a prince".
According to them it is possible that the family descends from an old princely clan; and the fact that at the liberation of one of the first princedoms of the Balkans - Serbian, in the imperial court two representatives of Benin family in Bansko are invited:  Marko Teodorovich and Mihail German, the latter is even ambassador of the Serbian princedom in Constantinople.

On the other hand Marco Teodorovich having merchant's counting-house in Vienna, in 1792 published with his own resources (as a "Bulgarian from Razlog region"), - the well known by the scholars  "Primer of Marco Teodorovich" - "for those who want to receive training in slavic letters".

In fact, the career of this prominent figure of the Bulgarian National Revival starts from his father's monastery school in Bansko and passes through the Rila Monastery (still the biggest East-orthodox monastery on the Balkans), where in 1811 he went to study the art of painting, with the originator of Bansko's painting school - Toma Vishanov - Molera.

Instead of painter, he becomes a monk and takes the name Neophyte. Than he continues his studies in Melnik, and receives an outstanding education.
At the end of 1826 he is already in Samokov, establishing a Slavic- hellenic school, in which, along with ancient Greek and modern Hellenic languages, people teach Old-Bulgarian and Church-Slavonic language. In 1834 he accepts the invitation of Vassil Aprilov and N. Palauzov to become a teacher in Gabrovo, where they establish the first Bulgarian non-clerical school, with the support of Muskatovi brothers, Ivan H. Bakalooglu, and other local notables.
Neophyte Rilsky is one of the first partisans for the establishment of the modern Bulgarian literary language - he proposes to abandon the liturgical books and to create special pedagogical literature, aligned with the missions of that time, and with the age characteristics of children. His authority of a cleric, man of letters, writer and educatior go beyond the Bulgarian cultural and ethnic limits. In 1836 he receives one quite tempting proposal from Serbian prince Milosh Obrenovich - to take up the episcopalian academic department of one of the richest and biggest dioceses of Serbia, in Shabats.
However, he denies and abandons Gabrovo, embarrassed by the attempts of the local masters    to intervene on his (strange for the time) methodology of training. After a certain stay in the mecca to the orthodoxy - the cloisters in Athon, in september 1837 he settles down in Koprivshtitsa town, where he becomes the principal teacher in the newly founded common school.

Here he teaches young intellectuals, who in the next few decades actually define the appearance of the Bulgaria's art and science - Nayden Gerov, Hristo Pulekov, Zahary Knyazhesky. He assembles teachers from entire Bulgaria, in order to extend their knowledge.

Gradually this school takes leading position in the intellectual life of the country, preparing educators that are needed for the modern Bulgarian education.
In 1839-1848 "by recommendation" of the cloistral governors, Neophyte Rilsky is again forced to return behind the cloistral walls. And even though, as a cloistral secretary, his time is occupied with the decoration  of the central  church of Rila Monastery, he doesn't neglect his literary and pedagogical activity.
He endeavor the "deed of his life" life: An enormous Greek- Bulgarian vocabulary; he writes textbooks and instructional manuals, compiles literary miscellanies, adapts and composes Orthodox- Slavic music.

Unresting toiler in the field of enlightenment, Neophyte Rilsky gives his life for addressing the needs of his time: he writes textbooks and manuals, issues acolyte symposiums, publishes the passionless of St. Ivan Rilsky, St. Cyril and Mephodius and patriarch Fotius, supports the translation and publication of the royal decree of Ivan Shishman - the last Bulgarian king of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (at present this royal decree is saved in the cloistral library).

This is the time, when according to the imperial recommendation of the patriarchate in Constantinople he finished out  on an island Halky  (one of the Prince islands, nearby Constantinople), where he headed the academic department of Slavonic languages in the local theological school i.e. he become the first Bulgarian professor.

The books that he publishes, the abundant documentary material, the large correspondence evidence show that the rila monk is actually an intellectual of a European rank. Even though he is a clergymen, each and every of his steps is struggle for reorganization and improvement of the education system in Bulgaria, suggesting the need to build schools first, and then build churches and cloisters as a second priority.

His "Bulgarian grammar" (1835) (the first systematic scientonic description of the particularities of Bulgarian language) becomes an authentic manifest in the development and strengthening of the national modern Bulgarian literary language. After the creation of his famous "tables for common learning", that played a revolutionary role in Bulgarian language education, he compiles the first school codes -  "Student's corrective discipline code" (1837), "Statute "(1848), issues textbooks: "Orthography" (1837), "Arithmetic" (1851), "Chrestomathy of Slavice languages" (1852) etc.

He translates the fables of Ezop (1852) that proves to be quite useful in education, as well as pedagogical and religious essays. Undoubtedly, the translation of the gospel that he makes in 1840 plays an important role in the establishment of modern Bulgarian literary language, and with its 6 editions, it became a real policy-making platform of the Bulgarian national revolution.

His personal library, considered to be one of the richest at that time, is impressive with the breadth of interests and encyclopedic cognitions:  from the teaching, the geography and the history, to the linguistic science, the music, the belletristic literature etc, in Bulgarian, Church-Slavonic, Hellenic, Russian, Serbian, French, Turkish as well other languages.

Convinced that only the power of knowledge can dispel the ignorance, Neophyte Rilsky makes himself an anxious bell, in the name and for the salvation of the fatherland: "Enough sleeping, Bulgaria has slept enough for centuries . . ."

Undoubtedly his figure will pass thought time as one of the first scientists encyclopedists in the new history to Bulgaria, as a "patriarch of the Bulgarian writers and educators", as stated the Czech Constantin Irechek, a cabinet minister of the enlightenment at the end of the 19th century. A man, whose remarkable deed would of taken him along with the leading names of the European Enlightenment, if he resided in any of the more developed countries at that time.

(Michailov, Krum, Nephyte Rilsky, A person in time, University Publishing House, Blagoevgrad, 2007)