site.btaBulgarian Sculptor Mihail Simeonov Passes Away at 92

Sofia, December 31 (BTA) - Internationally recognized sculptor Mihail Simeonov, who is a long-time immigrant in the United States, passed away at the age of 92, his relatives said on Friday. He became famous with his Cast the Sleeping Elephant Project and by smashing in front of the audience the artworks that were not bought.

Some of his works are the statue of Paisii of Chilandar in Sofia, of Zahari Zograph in front of the Historical Museum of Samokov. Even before he emigrated, Simeonov created memorable pieces like "Zahari Zograph" (today at the National Gallery), the "Uprising of Asen and Peter, 1186" (at the Veliko Tarnovo Gallery), the stone sculpture "Workers" (at the Kremikovtzi Steel Works) and "Boy with Bird" in Plovdiv, among others.

Simeonov was born in Plovdiv in 1929. He studied philosophy at Sofia University for two years and majored in monumental sculpture at the National Academy of Art in Sofia in 1954. In the eleven years (1954-1965) before he left Bulgaria, Simeonov created public works of art.

In 1965, Simeonov received a 45-day visa to Tunisia and left for Africa with no intention of returning to Bulgaria. Six years later he moved to New York.

In Tunisia, he became part of an art group known as the Ecole de Tunis. One of his sculptures, a statue of the Arab poet and philosopher Ibn Khaldun, caught the attention of President Habib Bourguiba. Bourguiba commissioned a portrait bust and a sculpture for the 150-meter-long marble wall of the Bizerte Martyrs National Monument. In 1967, inspired by the culture of ancient Carthage, Simeonov created a sculptural group of abstract symbols, called Sunday Morning.

The Cast a Sleeping Elephant Project, a life-size bronze statue of an African elephant, is his most famous work, completed in 1980. The project consisted of making a cold mold of a wild Kenyan male elephant that was asleep for 72 minutes. The elephant was not harmed in the process. The bronze statue was unveiled on November 18, 1998, by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and placed in front of the UN headquarters in New York as a gift from the governments of Kenya, Namibia, and Nepal.