Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov ( bg, Никола Йонков Вапцаров; 7 December 1909 – 23 July 1942) was a

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

. Working most of his life as a machinist, he only wrote in his spare time. Despite the fact that he only ever published one poetry book, he is considered one of the most important Bulgarian poets. Because of his underground communist activity against the government of

Boris III Boris III ( bg, Борѝс III ; Boris Treti; 28 August 1943), originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver (Boris Clement Robert Mary Pius Louis Stanislaus Xavier) , was the Tsar of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1918 until hi ...

and the German troops in

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 Macedon ...

, Vaptsarov was arrested, tried, sentenced and executed the same night by a firing squad.

Biography

He was born in Bansko. Trained as a machine engineer at the Naval Machinery School in

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

, which was later named after him. His first service was on the famous

Drazki torpedo boat ''Drazki'' (Bulgarian language: ''Дръзки''; also transliterated as ''Druzki'', "Intrepid") was a Bulgarian Navy torpedo boat built at the start of the 20th century. A ship of the same class is now a museum ship under her name in Varna. His ...

. In April and May 1932, Vaptsarov visited

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Famagusta Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia District, Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. Duri ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

, and

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

as a crew member of the Burgas vessel. Later, he went to work in a factory in the village of

Kocherinovo Kocherinovo ( bg, Кочериново, ) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, part of Kyustendil Province. It is the administrative centre of Kocherinovo Municipality, which lies in the southern part of Kyustendil Province. As of 2013 it has 2,25 ...

– at first as a stoker and eventually as a mechanic. He was elected Chairman of the Association, protecting worker rights in the factory. Vaptsarov was devoted to his talent and spent his free time writing and organizing amateur theater pieces. He got fired after a technical failure in 1936. This forced him to move to Sofia, where he worked for the state railway service and the municipal incinerating furnace. He continued writing, and a number of newspapers published poems of his. The "Romantika" poem won him a poetry contest. Over time, Vaptsarov absorbed a lot of Communist ideas and started taking an active part in the ideological movement. In the late 1930s, he was part of the Macedonian literary circle (which had the task of creating a distinct

Macedonian language Macedonian (; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken as a first language by around two million ...

), but Vaptsarov continued writing only in standard

. In 1940, he participated in the so-called "Sobolev action," gathering signatures for a pact of friendship between

and the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. The illegal activity earned him an arrest and an internment in the village of

Godech Godech ( bg, Годеч ) is a small town located in the Sofia Province, of Bulgaria. The town is founded in a valley on the far west of Stara Planina, where the Nishava River passes. The settlement is about 20 km east of the Serbian bord ...

. After his release in September 1940, Vaptsarov got involved with the Central Military Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party. His task was to organize the supply of guns and documents for the communist resistance. He was arrested in March 1942. On 23 July 1942, he was sentenced to death and shot the same evening along with 11 other men.

Literary works

His only released book of poetry is ''Motor Songs'' (1940).

Legacy

In 1949, the Bulgarian Naval Academy was renamed ''

Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy (NVNA) (Bulgarian: ''Висше Военноморско Училище "Никола Йонков Вапцаров", ВВМУ'') is the oldest technical educational institution in the Republic of Bulgaria. Its histo ...

''. On 3 December 1953, he received posthumously the International Peace Award. His ''Selected Poems'' were published in London in 1954, by Lawrence & Wishart, translated into English with a foreword by British poet Peter Tempest. His poetry has been translated in 98 languages throughout the world. Vaptsarov Peak in eastern

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

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 the famous Bulgarian poet. Today, Nikola Vaptsarov's childhood home in Bansko and residence in Sofia are both museums.

Notes

External links

Full list of works

Biography of Nikola Vapcarov

Nikola Vaptsarov Naval AcademyPolice files on Nikola Vaptsarov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaptsarov, Nikola 1909 births 1942 deaths People from Bansko Bulgarian male poets Bulgarian communists Modern history of the Blagoevgrad Province Executed Bulgarian people People executed by Bulgaria by firing squad Burials at Central Sofia Cemetery Macedonian Bulgarians Executed writers 20th-century executions by Bulgaria 20th-century Bulgarian poets Bulgarian resistance members