On September 29, 2017, the traditional “Geo Milev Days” were held in Stara Zagora. The eventful program began at the Geo Milev House Museum with the laying of flowers at the grave of Milev Kasabov and the presentation of the dramatization “Working Mezzana” by Leda Mileva by the children from the Svetlina Kindergarten. At lunchtime in the Alexander Stamboliyski Park, wreaths and flowers were laid in front of the bust-monument of Geo Milev, after which guests from the Board of Directors of the Geo Milev International Foundation met with students at the Geo Milev Kindergarten. In the early afternoon, in the City Art Gallery, amidst an exhibition of 40 poems with illustrations for children by Geo Milev, the documentary film by Prof. Andrey Avramov, Leda’s nephew and Geo Milev’s grandson, dedicated to the life and work of the great Leda Mileva, was shown. Prof. Avramov and actress Iliana Ilieva gave a recital of children's poems by Geo. During the round table on the topic "The Creativity of Geo Milev and Leda Mileva for Children", Dr. Nadezhda Stoyanova, a lecturer at Sofia University, focused on the unique children's creativity of the young Geo Milev. Prof. Ivaylo Hristov, a lecturer at the UNWE and author of the book "Leda Mileva - a Literary Survey" shared memories of "the natural and down-to-earth person Leda - a woman of a European type with aristocratic behavior and a generator of ideas, a poet and translator, director of Bulgarian National Television and a representative of UNESCO", etc. He also emphasized her "cultural feat" of collecting and preserving the creativity of her famous father.
Violeta Tsoneva, Leda's daughter-in-law and her faithful companion, presented the newly created website of the International Foundation "Geo Milev" ledamileva.com. It contains a wealth of information about Leda's life and work, a complete family tree, extensive photographic material, documents and items donated by Leda to the Geo Milev Museum in Radnevo, information about the establishment of the International Foundation and the Geo Milev Days, the winners of the Geo Milev Award, etc.
In 2020, the 100th anniversary of Leda Mileva's birth will be celebrated. On this occasion, the foundation announces a competition "Autographed by Leda". The goal is to collect books from all over Bulgaria, where the poetess has given an autograph with a short annotation of the events on this occasion.
At the next Geo Milev Days, publisher Ivan Granitski, chairman of the International Geo Milev Foundation and one of the organizers of the event, presented a book with new research on the work of Geo Milev. With this volume, the series on the spiritual legacy of the great artist in recent years has become 15 in total. The book “The Silver Bell” was also presented to the young audience who attended the ceremony of opening the exhibition and awarding the foundation’s award. It includes works by father and daughter Milevi, with wonderful illustrations by the artist Miglena Konstantinova.
The National Award named after Geo Milev this year was awarded to the 84-year-old writer and playwright Pancho Panchev – Grandpa Punch. He is the author of 50 plays, over 20 of which are for children, which have been staged on various stages in Bulgaria and abroad. He has also written in all other literary genres. His play for children “The Tale of the Kalpaks” has been performed in practically all European countries.
The “Geo Milev” Award was established in 1997 with the assistance of the municipalities of Radnevo and Stara Zagora and is awarded every 2 years. Its bearers are:
1997 – Boyko Lambovski: poet, publicist, essayist
1999 – Yana Dobreva: playwright
2001 – Nikola Toromanov: artist-scenographer
2003 – Valeri Stankov: poet, publicist, essayist
2005 – Rashko Stoykov: poet, playwright, satirist
2007 – Georgi Konstantinov: poet, essayist, publicist
2009 – Ivan Granitski: literary critic, poet, publicist
2011 – Ruzha Marinska: art critic
2013 – Leda Mileva: poet, translator, publicist
2015 – Aleksandar Shurbanov: translator, poet
Source and photos: Dolap BG – Rositsa Rancheva
Add comment