Pavel Vezhinov
(1914 - 1983)
Pavel Vezhinov (pen name of Nikola Delchev Gugov) was born in Sofia. He espoused leftist ideas from a young age (was even expelled from high school for them). After completing his secondary education as a private pupil, he graduated from Sofia University in Philosophy (1939-1944). He left for the front in 1944 as war correspondent and was editor of the newspaper “Frontovak” [Frontsman]. He was deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Starshel” [Hornet] (1951-1954) and the journal “Septemvri” (1951-1954); from 1972 onwards he was the editor-in-chief of the journal “Savremennik”. He occupied high administrative positions in Balgarska kinematografiya [Bulgarian Cinematography] (1954-1972). From 1972 he was board member of the Union of Bulgarian Writers and an MP in the VII National Assembly. He died in Sofia.
Vezhinov began writing for left literary periodicals at the beginning of the 1930s. His first collection of short stories (Ulitsa bez pavazh [Unpaved Street], 1938) portrayed the everyday life in the poorest districts in the outskirts of the capital. The texts collected in his second volume of stories (Dni i vecheri [Days and Nights], 1942) presented other faces from Bulgarian urban reality. This reality was also the focus of Vezhinov’s short stories published in the 1960s (Momcheto s tsigulkata [The Boy With the Violin] 1963; Dah na bademi [A Taste of Almonds], 1966). The city – with its characteristic way of life, as the space inhabited by alienated people – is also present in the representative for the writer’s oeuvre novels written in the 1970s and early 80s (Malkite priklyucheniya [Small Adventures], Samopriznanie [Self-incrimination], Noshtem s belite kone [At Night with White Horses], Barierata [The Barrier], Ezernoto momche [The Lake Boy], Vezni [Scales]). In his texts which are akin to magic realism, Vezhinov offers his take on questions of the origin and development of consciousness, the relations between reason and intuition, between science and ethics (Sinite peperudi [Blue Butterflies], 1968; Gibelta na Ayaks [Ajax’s Demise], 1973; Nad vsichko [Above All], 1973; Beliyat gushter [The White Lizard], 1977, etc.)
Before the above-mentioned series of books, Vezhinov wrote a number of works revolving around World War II (Vtora rota [Company Two], 1949, and others) and the anti-fascist guerrilla movement (the long short stories V poleto [In the Field], 1950; Daleche ot bregovete [Far from the Shore], 1958; Nashata sila [Our Strength], 1958; the novel Zvezdite nad nas [The Stars Above Us], 1966). After the controversy following the publication of his first novel (Siniyat zalez [Blue Sunset], 1947; he was accused of “decadence”, “Freudism”, “pornography”, etc.), Vezhinov even wrote about “socialist building construction and production” (Suhata ravnina [The Dry Plain], 1952). He was author of a number of humorist short stories, parodies, and feuilletons; works with sports themes (Znamena nad stadiona [Flags over the Stadium], 1950, etc.), crime novellas and novels (Sledite ostavat [Traces Remain], 1954; Proizshestvie na tihata ulitsa [Incident on the Quiet Street], 1960; Golyamata stapka [Big Foot], 1963; Chovekat v syanka [The Man in the Shade], 1965; Prilepite letyat noshtem [Bats Fly at Night], 1969; Kutiya za enfie [Snuffbox], 1973), and many film scripts on which a number of hugely popular at the time (before 1989) film productions were based (Sledite ostavat, Dah na bademi, Trimata ot zapasa [Three Reservists], Zarevo nad Drava [Flaming Dawn Over the Drava], and Barierata, among others).
Pavel Vezhinov received some of the most prestigious awards of socialist Bulgaria (the Order of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, second degree, 1964; the titles National Activist of Culture in 1970 and Hero of Socialist Labour in 1974; the Order of Georgi Dimitrov, 1974; he was Laureate of the Dimitrov Prize, on several occasions between 1950 and 1976).
Vezhinov’s works have been translated into English by Grigor Pavlov, among others.
Vezhinov began writing for left literary periodicals at the beginning of the 1930s. His first collection of short stories (Ulitsa bez pavazh [Unpaved Street], 1938) portrayed the everyday life in the poorest districts in the outskirts of the capital. The texts collected in his second volume of stories (Dni i vecheri [Days and Nights], 1942) presented other faces from Bulgarian urban reality. This reality was also the focus of Vezhinov’s short stories published in the 1960s (Momcheto s tsigulkata [The Boy With the Violin] 1963; Dah na bademi [A Taste of Almonds], 1966). The city – with its characteristic way of life, as the space inhabited by alienated people – is also present in the representative for the writer’s oeuvre novels written in the 1970s and early 80s (Malkite priklyucheniya [Small Adventures], Samopriznanie [Self-incrimination], Noshtem s belite kone [At Night with White Horses], Barierata [The Barrier], Ezernoto momche [The Lake Boy], Vezni [Scales]). In his texts which are akin to magic realism, Vezhinov offers his take on questions of the origin and development of consciousness, the relations between reason and intuition, between science and ethics (Sinite peperudi [Blue Butterflies], 1968; Gibelta na Ayaks [Ajax’s Demise], 1973; Nad vsichko [Above All], 1973; Beliyat gushter [The White Lizard], 1977, etc.)
Before the above-mentioned series of books, Vezhinov wrote a number of works revolving around World War II (Vtora rota [Company Two], 1949, and others) and the anti-fascist guerrilla movement (the long short stories V poleto [In the Field], 1950; Daleche ot bregovete [Far from the Shore], 1958; Nashata sila [Our Strength], 1958; the novel Zvezdite nad nas [The Stars Above Us], 1966). After the controversy following the publication of his first novel (Siniyat zalez [Blue Sunset], 1947; he was accused of “decadence”, “Freudism”, “pornography”, etc.), Vezhinov even wrote about “socialist building construction and production” (Suhata ravnina [The Dry Plain], 1952). He was author of a number of humorist short stories, parodies, and feuilletons; works with sports themes (Znamena nad stadiona [Flags over the Stadium], 1950, etc.), crime novellas and novels (Sledite ostavat [Traces Remain], 1954; Proizshestvie na tihata ulitsa [Incident on the Quiet Street], 1960; Golyamata stapka [Big Foot], 1963; Chovekat v syanka [The Man in the Shade], 1965; Prilepite letyat noshtem [Bats Fly at Night], 1969; Kutiya za enfie [Snuffbox], 1973), and many film scripts on which a number of hugely popular at the time (before 1989) film productions were based (Sledite ostavat, Dah na bademi, Trimata ot zapasa [Three Reservists], Zarevo nad Drava [Flaming Dawn Over the Drava], and Barierata, among others).
Pavel Vezhinov received some of the most prestigious awards of socialist Bulgaria (the Order of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, second degree, 1964; the titles National Activist of Culture in 1970 and Hero of Socialist Labour in 1974; the Order of Georgi Dimitrov, 1974; he was Laureate of the Dimitrov Prize, on several occasions between 1950 and 1976).
Vezhinov’s works have been translated into English by Grigor Pavlov, among others.
