site.btaProminent Poet, Screenplay Writer, Playwright, Translator Valeri Petrov Dies

Sofia, August 27 (BTA) - The prominent Bulgarian poet,screenplay writer, playwright and translator Valeri Petrov,
died in hospital on Wednesday aged 94, Petrov's family said.

He was born Valeri Nisim Mevorah in Sofia on April 22, 1920, to Maria Petrova, who taught French at a secondary school, and lawyer, public figure and diplomat Nisim Mevorah. After finishing the Italian School in Sofia and graduating in medicine, Valeri Petrov was briefly a physician in a military hospital and at the Rila Monastery before choosing literature ashis career.

His early years in literature included work as a war correspondent and editor of the "Frontovak" newspaper during thePatriotic War of 1944-1945, and as founder and deputy editor of the "Sturshel" satire newspaper between 1945 and 1962. During his long life he was press and cultural attache at the Bulgarian Embassy in Rome (1947-1950), worked at the Feature Films Studio, was editor at the Bulgarian Writer Publishing House
(1961-1962), taught screenplay writing at the National Academy of Theatre and Film Art, and was elected to the Seventh Grand National Assembly (1990-1991).

Some of the landmarks in Petrov's literary career include his first poems published in a school magazine in 1936 - signed withhis mother's surname because "it was hard to get published with a Jewish name at the time"; his first book, "Birds to the North" (1938) under the pen name Asen Rakovski; and his first major book of poetry, published in 1949, which comprised his well-known poems of the 1940s.

His other literary works include a travel book on China (1958); the long poem "In the Mild Autumn" (1961), which won a Dimitrov Award; the play "When Roses Dance" (1965); travel notes entitled "An African Notebook" (1965); and "A Dream Button" (1978), a play enjoyed by many children. In later life Petrov saw the
publication of two books: a collection of fables to which he added his comments and his latest poems. Both books marked his 90th birthday. He received many national literary awards, including the Great Prize for Literature of Sofia University in 2005.

Valeri Petrov's work in films includes screenplays for "Item One" (1956), "On the Small Island" (1958), "The Sun and the Shadow" (1962), "A Knight without Armour" (1966), "A Day of Filming" (1969), "With Love and Tenderness" (1978), "Yo-ho-ho" (1981), "Theatre, My Love" (1994). Many of those films have been very popular in Bulgaria. His script for "Yo-ho-ho" won the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers' Award in 1981 and First Prize at the 17th Bulgarian Film Festival in Varna in 1982. His lifetime contribution to the Bulgarian cinema won him the Golden Camera Award of the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers for 1984.

Translation of English, Russian and Italian literature was another major part of Petrov's career. He takes credit for the first poetic translation of Shakespeare's plays and 154 sonnets.He also translated works of Rudyard Kipling, Gianni Rodari, Jacques Prevert, Alexander Blok and Boris Pasternak. In 1984 Valeri Petrov received the Union of Translators' Award for Best Achievements. In 1993 he became Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres - a distinction conferred by then French ambassador Jacques Rummelhardt - for his contribution to Bulgarian culture and its promotion around the world, especially for his translations of works by Prevert, Kipling, Shakespeare and Pasternak.

In 2011, Petrov managed to collect his translations of Shakespeare's works in a single 1,200-page book, comprising 37 plays, all the sonnets and over 600 illustrations.

In 2000, when Petrov turned 80, he received the highest Bulgarian honour, the Order of the Balkan Range, First Class, for his exceptional contribution to poetry, translation and the cinema. Petrov was awarded the 2013 European Citizen's Prize of the European Parliament "for his exceptional poetic talent, his contribution in achieving consensus among people and nations, and his role as a champion of Bulgarian culture, education, and European spirit". He was nominated for a Nobel Prize for Literature.

In June 2003 the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences elected Valeri Petrov member of the Academy. Known for his modest, self-effacing manner, he said in a "Standart News" interview in 2004: "Please do not address me as Academician. It does not sound right for a poet...". Some of his famous quotes are: "It was my dream to have a watch. Now I have a watch but I have no dream," and "I am a man of hope."

The public will pay their last respects to Valeri Petrov at the Ivan Vazov National Theatre on August 29.