Dimcho Debelyanov () (28 March 1887 – 2 October 1916) was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...

n poet and author. Born to a prosperous tailoring family in

Koprivshtitsa Koprivshtitsa ( bg, Копривщица, pronounced , from the Bulgarian word , ''kopriva'', meaning " nettle") is a historic town in the Koprivshtitsa Municipality in Sofia Province, central Bulgaria, lying on the Topolnitsa River among the ...

, Debelyanov experienced financial hardship upon the death of his father in 1896, which necessitated his family moving to

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, and then on to

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

in 1904. Debelyanov's nostalgia for Koprivshtitsa influenced his work, often speaking of his eight years in Plovdiv with regret and calling it "the sorrowful city". Debelyanov studied Law, history and literature at the Faculties of Law and History and Philosophy at

Sofia University Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" at the University of Sofia, ( bg, Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, ''Sofijski universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“'') is the oldest higher education ...

and translated works in both French and English. In 1906, Debelyanov began sending poetry to Bulgarian literary magazines at the urging of friend and fellow poet Pencho Slaveikov, which were accepted and well received. His poems at this time were satirical, with

symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and real ...

qualities and subjects, such as dreams, idealism and the stylising of medieval legends. Debelyanov worked several odd jobs during the next six years, finding employment as a junior clerk for the central meteorological station, a translator and a freelance journalist, before being mobilised in 1912 into the Balkan army during

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...

, where he was discharged in 1914. Though he considered himself a pacifist, Debelyanov would later volunteer to join the army in 1916. Debelyanov's poetry evolved during combat, moving from idealist Symbolism to a simplified and more object focused Realism. He was killed near Gorno Karadjovo (today Monokklisia, Greece) during a battle with an Irish division in 1916, aged 29. His body was interred in Valovishta, today Sidirokastro,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

until 1931, when his remains were removed to his native town, Koprivshtitsa. Debelyanov's gravestone was designed by the sculptor Ivan Lazarov. His body of work was collected by friends, then published posthumously in a two volume anthology in 1920, entitled Stihotvoreniya (Poems) with a collection of letters and personal writings. Despite his short career, Debelyanov's published poems remain popular in post-war Bulgaria. Tombstone-Debelyanov

Honours

Debelyanov Point on

Robert Island Robert Island or Mitchells Island or Polotsk Island or Roberts Island is an island long and wide, situated between Nelson Island and Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Robert Island is located at . Surface area . T ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

is named after Dimcho Debelyanov. His childhood home has become a museum dedicated to the poet.

References

External links

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Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, Author's profile

Virtual Library, Author's Profile

Honours

References

External links

See also