For Brits in Bulgaria
Practical guides for Brits planning a move and living in Bulgaria, from residency and healthcare to household costs. Plus Bulgarian news in English.
Today in Bulgaria
16 October
Fani Popova-Mutafova, born in Sevlievo in 1902, was by Bulgarian Wikipedia's account the most popular woman writer in the country. Her wartime politics sent her to prison in 1944, and her novels were later altered under pressure. Today is also Pravets Day.
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Fani Popova-Mutafova, born in Sevlievo in 1902, was by Bulgarian Wikipedia's account the most popular woman writer in the country. Her wartime politics sent her to prison in 1944, and her novels were later altered under pressure. Today is also Pravets Day.
Patriarch Neophyte, born Simeon Dimitrov in Sofia in 1945, trained as a church choirmaster before he led a church of some six million members. His cathedral, Alexander Nevsky, is one of Sofia's great sights.
General Panteley Kiselov, who took the Danube fortress of Tutrakan in September 1916, died in Sofia on this day in 1927. It is also Petkovden, when Petkas, Petkos and Penkas celebrate, and nine towns mark the saint's day.
Ivan Hadzhiyski, born in Troyan in 1907, walked and cycled around Bulgaria to write a classic study of how Bulgarians live and think. He was killed as a war correspondent in 1944, and part of his work vanished before it could be published.
Ivo Yanakiev, born in Burgas in 1975, won Olympic bronze in the single sculls at Athens in 2004, a first medal in the event for Bulgaria, Norway and Estonia alike. Gotse Delchev's calendar date, meanwhile, turns out to be less fixed than it looks.
Atanas Hranov, born in Plovdiv in 1961, named an exhibition after the kettles of the last king of Babylon and set Plovdiv's writers into a garden in cast iron. Razlog, between Rila, Pirin and the Rhodopes, celebrates its city day today.
Inspectors who searched the damaged ship Able found no drone fragments, sea-water tests found no oil, and the defence minister says nobody can promise 100% protection. The crew of the other ship hit is still missing.
Petar Zhekov, born in the Rhodope village of Knizhovnik in 1944, won the European Golden Boot in 1969 and played at the 1966 World Cup in England. Rinus Michels is said to have wanted him for Barcelona; the authorities in Bulgaria said no.
On 9 October 1934 a Bulgarian gunman from a Rhodope spa town shot the king of Yugoslavia in Marseille and died that evening, unnamed. Vlado Chernozemski is considered a hero in Bulgaria and a controversial Bulgarian in North Macedonia's official history.
He put some of Plovdiv's rich into the Last Judgement at Bachkovo, in the clothes they actually wore, and signed his self-portrait "Bulgarian". Zahari Zograf, born in Samokov in 1810, left his work on the walls of Rila, Bachkovo and Troyan.
Seven league titles, six cup wins and 350 A Group games for CSKA Sofia: Boris Gaganelov, born in Petrich on this day in 1941, was a left-back who also played at the 1966 World Cup in England. Bulgarian Wikipedia calls him a legend, and the record backs it up.
Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria died on 6 October 1014, reportedly after seeing the army Basil II had blinded at Kleidion. Toma and Tomi celebrate the Apostle Thomas, and Pliska and Preslav, lost in 1001, are about 20 km from Shumen.
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Written by Adrian Dane. Not AI sludge, not embassy copy, not a literal translation. Proper reporting.
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