(1850 - 1921)

Vazov was born in Sopot where he went to primary school; later he studied in Kalofer with Botyo Petkov and in the High School in Plovdiv. He lived in Plovdiv since the early 1880s. His name is associated with some of the important periodicals of the decade, such as the journals Nauka, Zora, Bulgarska hristomatiya (he worked together with Konstantin Velichkov for Zora, the newspaper Narodniy glas and Bulgarska hristomatiya). After the Unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia (1885) Vazov left for Odessa due to the persecution against Russophiles (1887-1888). Upon his return to Bulgaria, he settled in Sofia and began publishing the literary monthly Dennitsa. He resumed his involvement in politics as well. Between 1897 and 1899 he was Minister of People’s Education in the government of Konstantin Stoilov. Afterwards he retired from active political engagement. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Professor Ivan Shishmanov.

Considered a national classic, Ivan Vazov spurred the development of all genres of Bulgarian literature. He authored myriads of poetry collections of patriotic, socially critical, landscape, intimate and humorous nature. He wrote long poems (Gramada [The Heap] being the most famous among them), many short stories, short novels (Nemili-nedragi [The Unloved and Unwanted] and Chichovtsi [Uncles] are most popular) and novels (Pod igoto [Under the Yoke]; Nova zemya [New World]; Kazlarskata tsaritsa [The Empress of Kazalar]; Svetoslav Terter). Vazov also published many travelogues, plays, comedies, critical notes, essays, etc. and tried his hand at translation. The cycle Epopeya na zabravenite [Epopee of the Forgotten] (1881-1884), a memorable expression of Bulgarian patriotic poetry, ensures his popularity among readers in Bulgaria. Due to his novel Under the Yoke, Vazov’s anniversary celebrations often shape as celebrations of the national spirit and his name is firmly associated with the title The Patriarch of Bulgarian Literature. Within ten years of its publication, the novel Pod igoto was the first Bulgarian work translated into a number of European languages (English, French, Swedish, Polish, Croatian, Hungarian, Romanian, Danish, etc.)

To this day, Ivan Vazov’s oeuvre remains unsurpassed as the most impressive individual contribution to Bulgarian literature.



Vazov’s works have been translated into English by Marguerite Alexieva, Teodora Atanassova, Zhana Molhova, Peter Tempest, Yavor Dimitrov, Arthur P. Coleman, R. Tzanov, and Vivian Pinto, Jr., among others.

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