Poet Nayden Valchev has died at 98, his grandson Filip Valchev announced.
Nayden Valchev is the author of the song "A Bulgarian Rose" that was popular in the 1970s.
The Union of Bulgarian Writers calls him the doyen of poets today.
The Bulgarian poet, writer and translator was born on August 30, 1927 in the village of Brestnitsa, Yablanitsa municipality, into the family of a teacher. He completed his primary education in his native village, and secondary education at the Pleven Boys' High School, where he also made his first poetic attempts. In 1951 he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", but did not practice his profession because he devoted himself to literature.
He first published his works in the newspaper "Lost" in 1946. During his studies he was a member of the literary circle "Vasil Vodenicharski". While in the barracks he wrote poems dedicated to the soldier's everyday life, which he published in his first collection of poems "On the Southern Border", which was published in 1953.
During the period 1954 - 1955 he worked as an editor in the magazine "Bulgarian Soldier" and the newspaper "People's Army", from 1956 to 1983 - in the magazine "September", from 1983 to 1988 - in the magazine "Contemporary", and from 1988 to 1989 he was the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Donors". From 1996 to 1997 he was a cultural attaché at the Bulgarian embassy in Minsk, Belarus. Naiden Valchev was a member of the Union of Bulgarian Writers, and in 1983 he was elected chairman of the "Poetry" section of the union.
Naiden Valchev is the author of the poetry collections "On the Southern Border" (1953), "Silent Victory" (1954), „A Little Story" (1956), „A Colorful Palette" (1960), „Hymns and Stories" (1964), „Lilac Evening" (1968), „Lunapark" (1970), „Blue Flower, Train, Woman" (1975), „Golden August" (1977), „Northern Lights" (1965), „Seeds for Sowing“ (1976), „Golden August" (1977), „Two Snowflakes" (1980), „A Written Maple Leaf" (1984), „Giant Slalom" (1986), Selected Works in 2 Volumes (1987), “The Young Moon and the Old Moon“ (2001), “Paradise for the Sinners“ (2003), “Crossing Three Waters“ (2004), “A Bulgarian Rose“ (Selected Poems, 2013). In five books called “Passage Encounters“, published between 2007 and 2016, Nayden Valchev tells in essayistic biographical readings about Elisaveta Bagryana, Nikola Furnadzhiev, Pancho Vladigerov, Hristo Radevski, Valeri Petrov, Stanka Pencheva, Veselin Hanchev, Ivan Radoev, Liana Daskalova, Svetoslav Obretenov, Lyubomir Pipkov, Todor Popov, Dimcho Debelyanov, Georgi Raichev, Dimitar Talev, Elias Canetti, Nikolay Liliev and others. In 2007, Panko Anchev's “Literary Survey“ with the writer was published. In 2022, on the occasion of his 95th anniversary, his poetry collection “Swan” was published. About her, Nayden Valchev says: “That is the name of my last poem from 2022. It is not dedicated to anyone, but the invention leads to a swan song. My first poem from 1952 is also included. “At the border storks fly“ from my soldier's poems. These are 70 years of poems.“
Part of Nayden Valchev's poetic work is dedicated to children, writing under the pseudonym Chik Chirik. These are the poetry collections “Bulgarian Land“ (1963), “Ring the Bell“ (1968), “Photo Esperanto“ (1983), “Acorn with a Hat“ (2004) and others.
Naiden Valchev is among the founders of the Union of Translators in Bulgaria and was its chairman from March 11, 1989 to March 2, 1991. He is a translator from Russian. He has translated books of poems by poets - Alexander Pushkin, Adam Mickiewicz, Mikhail Lermontov, Sergei Yesenin, Robert Rozhdestvensky, Bela Akhmadulina, etc. About his work as a translator, the poet says: “I translate poems and authors that have had a strong impact on me and that I wanted to be read by others. This right to desire burdens the translator with the enormous responsibility of bringing the author alive and well to the other bank of the river. To save all or almost all of his merits and to show him with his intellectual, emotional and figurative power." According to Nayden Valchev, a true translator should translate what he would not be ashamed of, to translate it with the awareness that he is already protecting two names - the author's and his own.
Nayden Valchev has written the lyrics to a number of popular songs. He is the author of the lyrics to the song “A Bulgarian Rose” performed by Pasha Hristova with music by Dimitar Valchev. Nayden Valchev wrote the lyrics in 1968 for the 9th Youth Festival in Sofia, but a committee rejected it. In 1970, the composer Dimitar Valchev wrote the music to Nayden Valchev's lyrics in three days and suggested that the poet participate with the song in the International Festival “Golden Orpheus”. The song was performed by the singer Pasha Hristova and won first prize at the festival. In 2000, the song ”A Bulgarian Rose” was declared the song of the 20th century. In 2022, the song will be performed in a new way, performed by Igor Markovski's “Singing Artists“.
The songs "Big Song", "Youth March", "Silent Evening", "I Was Waiting for You", "We Are Every Kilometer", "Tell Me Who's the Dark Woman", "Blue Evening", "Sometimes, But Not Now", set to music by composers Svetoslav Obretenov, Lyubomir Pipkov, Filip Kutev, Konstantin Iliev, Todor Popov, Yosif Tsankov, Petar Stupel, Atanas Boyadzhiev, Emil Georgiev, Toncho Rusev, Mitko Shterev and others, were written based on lyrics by Nayden Valchev.
Throughout his creative career, Nayden Valchev has strived to be relevant as a problem, as a theme. Evidence of this is his intimate poems "Woman", poems dedicated to nature - "Edelweiss", poems-travelogues, poems related to the heroic past and love for the homeland.
Naiden Valchev owns a collection of over 60 books with autographs of his colleagues with dedications to him, collected during his creative life.
Naiden Valchev is the recipient of many Bulgarian and foreign awards. In 1979, he won first prize for the lyrics of the song "Bulgarian Blood" in the Competition of the Ministry of National Defense with a military-patriotic theme for 1977-1978. He was awarded the translation award of the Union of Translators in Bulgaria in 1982, the poetry award "Dimcho Debelyanov" of the magazine "Bulgarian Warrior" in 1987. He was awarded the medal "For Merit in Border Guarding" on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Border Troops in September 1976. In September 1977 he was awarded the Order of "Cyril and Methodius" first degree on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his birth and for his literary activity. On May 23, 2013 he was again awarded the Order of "St. St. Cyril and Methodius" first degree for his great merits in the field of culture and art. In May 1982 he was awarded the title of "Honored Worker of Culture". On June 11, 1998, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Union of Bulgarian Writers for 1997. On July 6, 2000, he was awarded the State Prize of Belarus - the “Francis Skorina” medal. On September 29, 2017, Naiden Valchev was awarded his highest distinction, the “Golden Age” with a necklace in connection with his 90th anniversary and in recognition of his many years of poetic and translation work.