His father having worked for a short time in Austria, and exposed to
the system of universal education and freedom, returned home with the
burning desire that at least one of his sons should receive a solid
education, so that he could educate others. With the assistance from
friends, Dimitar was sent to Yanina, at that time, a prominent Greek
educational center. The talented youngster accounted himself well. He
had absorbed a lot of the Greek culture, a lot of their classics, and
became proficient in the Greek language.
But the hopes of the Hellenes were dashed. Like most of the active
participants in this struggle for national revival, once back home, he
translated prayers into the local Bulgarian language using Greek letters.
As teacher in the local schools, or wherever he happened to be, he used
the same system to teach the children the history of the Bulgarians, to
instil in their young hearts, love and devotion for their own national
heritage. In his spare time,he visited the surrounding villages to write
down old folk songs which he considered as one of the most precious
treasures of the people.
His fame had gone far and wide all over Macedonia. Contracts and
invitations to teach in other cities poured in. For the Greek Bishop in
Ohrid, it had become quite evident that Dimitar Miladinov represented
a great obstacle in his plans for Hellenization and was, therefore, a
dangerous man.
In 1857, D. Miladinov was invited to teach in the town of Koukoush,
some 30 kilometers from Soloun, which the Greeks considered their
bastion in Macedonia. In spite of the proximity to this Hellenic centre,
Koukoush had already cast away the Greek language and books from
their school and substituted them with Bulgarian textbooks, some of
which they had received from Constantinople. Miladinov accepted their
offer with pride and joy and his arrival in this strong Bulgarian fortress
was an occasion for jubilation.
Taking over the school, he immediately revised the program to
accelerate the teaching of the Bulgarian language and history. According
to some reports of that time, the schools stayed open until midnight to
accommodate the young men coming from the surrounding villages and
those of the local people who were working at various trades. At least
once a week, he held open meetings at which he lectured on the past
history of the Bulgarian nation and the need to open schools in as
many places as possible.
One market day, when the town was crowded with people from all
around Koukoush, the students from the upper classes gathered groups
and lectured on the need to fight Hellenism in using the Bulgarian
language in their schools and churches. For all practical purposes,
Koukoush had cast away the Hellenic spiritual and educational yoke.
At the instigation of Dimitar Miladinov, and with the full approval of
the city fathers, in 1858, the use of the Greek language was banished
from the churches and substituted with the old Bulgarian Slavonic. The
jubilation of the people was indescribable. Many cried because of joy.
In 1859 when he received word that Ohrid had officially demanded,
from the Turkish government, the restoration of their ancient Bulgarian
Patriarchate, the throne of St Clement, Dimitar Miladinov left
Koukoush and headed for Ohrid to help. He became one of the leaders
in this fight.
Despite his preoccupation, he felt the necessity to keep the leaders in
Istanbul informed of the situation and struggle in Macedonia. In a letter
to "Tsarigradski Vestnik" of February 28, 1860, he reports:
In the entire country of Ohrid, there is not a single Greek family, except three
or four villages of Vlahs. All of the rest of the population is pure Bulgarian
Angered by this bold act of the citizens of Ohrid and their leader, the
infamous Greek Bishop Milletios denounced Miladinov as a Russian
agent and on February 16, 1861, he was arrested, put in chains and sent
to Istanbul. A few months later, he would be joined in the underground
police dungeon by his younger brother, Konstantin.