Today marks the 52nd anniversary of the death of the Bulgarian writer Angel Karaliychev.
Generations of Bulgarians have grown up with his children's books, but despite this, the story of his life is relatively unknown. For example, few people know that he is the most published Bulgarian author after Ivan Vazov, and his works have been translated into nearly 50 languages.
The life of this unsurpassed Bulgarian artist began on August 21, 1902 in the then village (now the city) of Strazhitsa, Veliko Tarnovo region. His parents were farmers. From a young age, Angel helped them with field work. This close contact with the Bulgarian village, with nature in its purest form, left a lasting impression on Karaliychev's mind. He listened to many folk tales from his grandmother, and learned many folk songs from his mother, which imperceptibly introduced him to his native folklore from an early age.
Karaliychev studied at the Tarnovo high school, which he graduated in 1921. His peers said that he easily coped with the educational material. Although he did not spend much time studying, he constantly read books. In the memories of his friends from his teenage years, he remains ambitious and self-confident. His creative path began after his classmates introduced him to the librarian of the "Nadezhda" community center. He helped Karaliychev get acquainted with the best books of the time, and so the young Angel was attracted to symbolism. He constantly carried poems by Dimcho Debelyanov and Nikolay Liliev with him. He began to read works by the Russian symbolists – Alexander Blok, Valery Bryusov, Andrey Bely, as well as some of the French symbolists.
The death of his close friend and classmate from the Tarnovo high school Angel Dimitrov changed Karaliychev's life. After tuberculosis struck Dimitrov, Karaliychev set about publishing his poems. This affected him to such an extent that he withdrew into himself and devoted himself to creativity. In 1919, the writer published his first poem - "The Eagle", published in the magazine "Student Thought". Through the publication, he met Nikola Furnadzhiev, who at that time was also his collaborator, but studied at the Elena high school. The friendship between the two artists remained until the end of their days. The young writers, together with several other friends, published the literary collection "Lorelai". They barely managed to raise money for the printer's paper, and in order to get a certain discount, they turned the printing press by hand themselves.
The collection was not particularly successful, and because of this, Karaliychev, who was suffering from lack of money at the time, was forced to start working in the field of agriculture. With many hardships, he managed to raise money to continue his education at university. Thus, in the fall of 1922, he enrolled in Sofia to study chemistry. After realizing that this specialty was not to his liking, he again devoted himself to creativity. During lectures, he stood on the back benches, where instead of taking notes, he wrote his works.
In 1923-1924, Karaliychev lived in an apartment with Georgi Tsanev, where Asen Raztsvetnikov, Nikola Furnadzhiev and Iliya Beshkov often stopped by. The young artist borrowed money from his landlord, with which he published his poem "Mauna Loa". Although interest in his poem was weak, he did not stop creating. He published some of his poems in the magazine "New Path". These works of his are characteristic of his lyrical prose of this period. Karaliychev's real breakthrough was with the collection "Rye" from 1925. In it, the author proposed a new narrative structure that contradicted the classical models. The book "Rye" was well received by critics. It can be considered a kind of peak in Karaliychev's work. Over time, the sudden metaphors characteristic of his work decreased. Even in his early works, Karaliychev included elements of history and folklore. "Rye" was inspired by the September events. Other of his stories use elements from folk ballads. History also accompanies a large part of his travelogues. In them, he introduces the reader to the past of the places he travels through.
In 1924, his relationship with Georgi Bakalov and the proletarian movement collapsed. Thus, Karaliychev was attracted to the magazine "Zlatorog". He entered the circle of prominent intellectuals, writers and artists. He already had a well-established name and it was easy for him to publish his new works. Similar to his youth, when a single meeting had a serious impact on his early work, this happened again in the 1920s. This time, the person who left a mark on his life was Ran Bosilek, who at that time was the editor of the children's magazine "Children's Joy". He told him that he had read the book "Rye" and thought that he would make a good children's writer. He asked him to write something aimed at this audience. Angel took this to heart and thus "The Rye Bread" was born. After the publication of this work, he finally turned to the genre of children's literature.
In the following years, the twists and turns in his life did not stop. In the late 1920s, the writer fell in love with the actress Vela Usheva. Their relationship began violently. They were together for nearly 5 years before deciding to get married. His love for her was so strong that he went crazy with jealousy when another man approached her. He was even jealous of her admirers who offered flowers to the actress after a performance. In one such scene of rage, he grabbed all the bouquets and threw them away, leaving only his own. The writer could no longer bear the great attention that his partner enjoyed. He gave Vela an ultimatum - to choose either her career or him. She chose her career. In an emotional breakdown, he decided to end his life in front of the National Theater. He shot himself in the chest with a pistol, but fortunately the bullet passed centimeters from the heart and lodged under the skin of his back, where it remained for the rest of his life, reminding him of his reckless act. He lay in the hospital for days, where he stood on the edge between life and death.
After recovering, his beloved took him into her home and took care of him until he fully recovered. To the horror of her admirers, she changed her choice and decided to give up her career in theater and cinema. In 1931, Vela married Karaliychev. At that time, he was 29 years old and she was 37. Their marriage lasted 41 years, until the writer's death. During all these years, she provided him with great support in his work. She typed, corrected and edited what he wrote, translated folk tales for him from other languages, went to editorial offices and publishing houses to bring his texts and collect his fees.
During the years of their marriage, they had 2 children, but both died. Karaliychev was particularly devastated after the death of his daughter, who died in his arms before she was two years old. In order not to think about the misfortune that befell him, he began to write tirelessly. He finished the book "Anne", which he had begun even before his daughter's death, which is still being republished to this day. He continued to write until his death.
The writer died on December 14, 1972 in Sofia. In his creative path, Angel Karaliychev wrote more than thirty books for children and adults. In 1974, he received an honorary diploma in the name of Hans Christian Andersen from the International Council for Children's and Young Adults' Literature and was entered in its honorary book. Today, many schools, streets and other buildings bear the name of the talented writer.
Source: bulgarianhistory.org