Jordan Radichkov
Jordan Radichkov (born October 24, 1929 in Kalimanitsa ; † January 21, 2004 ) was a Bulgarian writer and is considered one of the most outstanding representatives of Bulgarian literature of the last third of the 20th century.
Life
Professional background
Raditschkow was born in 1929 in Kalimanitsa (in today 's Montana Oblast ) in poor conditions. In his youth he contracted tuberculosis . In 1951 he began to work as a journalist for a local newspaper. From 1952 he was an editor at Narodna Mladezh before starting to work as a journalist for Vecherni Novini in Sofia in the mid-1950s . He also wrote articles for other newspapers.
From 1959 he became active as a writer. While his early works such as Surtseto bie za khorata (1959), Prosti rutse (1961) and Oburnato nebe (1962) were in the tradition of socialist realism , Radichkov turned to a parabolic narrative style , which was viewed critically by the communist leadership .
In addition to his writing activities, he wrote the screenplays for a number of films, such as the socialist-realistic film and popular success Goreshto pladne , released in 1966 , and the award-winning film Posledno liato , which appeared in 1974 .
He was a founding member and from 1984 to 1991 the first president of the Bulgarian-Swedish Society for Friendship.
In 1989 he was invited by the French President François Mitterrand to his so-called dissident breakfast, which he held during a state visit and met with Bulgarian intellectuals.
In the first free election of the National Assembly on June 10 and 17, 1990 Radichkov was elected a member of the Bulgarian Socialist Party . Disappointed by politics, however, he soon resigned his mandate and devoted himself entirely to writing.
Radichkov was married and had two children, a daughter and a son. He died in 2004 of the sequelae of a stroke he had suffered five years earlier. In his honor, Radichkov Peak on Livingston Island in Antarctica bears his name.
Literary work
Radichkov's literary work, which includes more than 40 works, including short stories, novellas , parables and children's books, has been translated into more than 30 languages and earned him the reputation of a classic of Bulgarian modernism.
While his early literary work was still in the tradition of socialist realism, Raditschkow later adopted a parabolic narrative style, which was viewed critically by the communist leadership and led to the prohibition of some of his works.
Even a member of the Communist Party, he did not shy away from subtle parody of it. However, political issues were not the main aspect of his work. Rather, Raditschkow dealt with fears of dehumanization and the alienation of humans from nature. In a mixture of fantasy and realism, he often combined contemporary industrial society with the mythological past. One example of this is his novel Baruten bukvar (1969) about the socialist revolution in Bulgaria.
His children's books, some of which he illustrated with his own abstract drawings, earned him an international readership. His children's book Malki zhabeshki istorii was included in the IBBY Honor List of 1996 by the International Board on Books for Young People .
Web links
- Yordan Radichkov , Jan 31, 2004, The Guardian
- Eminent Bulgarian intellectual Radichkov died , January 21, 2004, Deutsche Welle
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Radichkov, Jordan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bulgarian writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 24, 1929 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kalimanitsa |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 21, 2004 |