(1863 - 1897)
Aleko Konstantinov was born in Svishtov. Initially, he was taught by private tutors; he was later sent to the school in Svishtov (1872–1874) and then studied at the Aprilov high school in Gabrovo (1874–1877). He finished his secondary education in the Russian town of Nikolaev (1881) and graduated with a degree in Law from the New Russian University in Odessa (1885). Upon his return to Bulgaria he was appointed judge (1885–1886) and prosecutor (1886) at the Sofia District Court, then assistant-prosecutor (1886–1888) and judge at the Sofia Court of Appeal (1890 – 1892); he later practiced law as a free-lance solicitor. He went to the Exposition Universelle in Paris (1889), the General Land Centennial Exhibition in Prague (1891), and the World’s Fair: Columbian Exposition (1893) in Chicago. He held an active social position. It was on his initiative that the first tourist association in Bulgaria was created (1895). He was a member of the Democratic Party led by Petko Karavelov (1896); he took part in drafting its programme and contributed his feuilletons, travel writing, reports and articles to its organ, the Zname newspaper ever since it was set up (1894). He was murdered in a political assault.
Aleko Konstantinov is the author of Do Chicago i nazad [To Chicago and back] (1894), as well as of travelogues that map the writer’s Bulgarian trajectories, of Bay Ganyo – neveroyatni razkazi za edin savremenen balgarin [Bai Ganyo: Incredible Tales of a Modern Bulgarian] (1895), of short stories and dozens of feuilletons. He translated works by Pushkin, Lermontov, Nekrasov, Mollier, Fr. Coppee, and others.
Bay Ganyo is among the books central to Bulgarian culture. It provoked a debate (still open today) about the characteristics of what is “Bulgarian” and how they are to be justified.
The English translations of Aleko Konstantinov’s works include To Chicago and Back (2004) and two book-length versions of his masterpiece: Uncle Ganyo (2007), and Bai Ganyo: Incredible Tales of a Modern Bulgarian (2010).
Aleko Konstantinov is the author of Do Chicago i nazad [To Chicago and back] (1894), as well as of travelogues that map the writer’s Bulgarian trajectories, of Bay Ganyo – neveroyatni razkazi za edin savremenen balgarin [Bai Ganyo: Incredible Tales of a Modern Bulgarian] (1895), of short stories and dozens of feuilletons. He translated works by Pushkin, Lermontov, Nekrasov, Mollier, Fr. Coppee, and others.
Bay Ganyo is among the books central to Bulgarian culture. It provoked a debate (still open today) about the characteristics of what is “Bulgarian” and how they are to be justified.
The English translations of Aleko Konstantinov’s works include To Chicago and Back (2004) and two book-length versions of his masterpiece: Uncle Ganyo (2007), and Bai Ganyo: Incredible Tales of a Modern Bulgarian (2010).
Context search:
All spellings; Константинов, Алеко ; Konstantinoff, Aleko ; Konstantinow, Aleko ; Konstantinov, Aleko; Konstantinof, Aleko