Vladislavov was born in the town of
Kotel in Eastern Bulgaria in 1739 to the family of a cattle trader. His father, Vladislav died in 1750 in
Istanbul of the plague. When Stoiko was 3 years old his mother, Maria, died and his father remarried. He attended a monastery school in his home town and studied
Slavic and
Greek books. He worked as a
frieze weaver, but had an interest in religion and became a cleric in 1762. While working as a teacher and writer he met
Paisius of Hilendar in Kotel in 1765. Paisius showed him his
Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya, the primary work of the Bulgarian Revival, of which Vladislavov made the first copy, known as Sophronius' Copy (Софрониев препис,
Sofroniev prepis). Vladislavov travelled to
Mount Athos between 1770 and 1775 and left Kotel in 1795. He served in the
Karnobat parish and went to a monastery in
Arbanasi in 1794, becoming
Bishop of
Vratsa under the name of
Sophronius on 17 September. There he was engaged in social activity and initiated the sending of a political delegation of Vratsa residents to
Moscow according to some sources. Sophronius had close ties with the
Phanariote circles. After the dislocations caused by
Osman Pazvantoğlu, the bishop's duties became more and more difficult for Vladislavov and he left Vratsa in 1797 to wander in Northwestern Bulgaria. He spent three years in
Vidin in a period that helped him determine his goals as a writer. He left for
Bucharest in 1803 to serve the people as a high-standing clergyman, being released on his insistence from his bishop's post but continuing to sign under his bishop's name. Between 1806 and 1812 Sophronius of Vratsa was one of the most eminent representatives of the Bulgarian people in their communication with the Russian commanding of the
Russo-Turkish War. He spent his last years in a monastery in Bucharest. His date of death is unknown, the last signed document being from 2 August 1813. ==Works==