site.btaBTA's LIK Issue about Aleko Konstantinov Presented in Svishtov on his 161st Birth Anniversary

Throughout 2023, the Bulgarian News Agency's Aleko Today initiative held discussions at the BTA press clubs across Bulgaria dedicated to the Bulgarian writer and public figure. On his 161st birth anniversary on Saturday, BTA presented in Konstantinov's hometown of Svishtov the issue of its LIK magazine summarizing the initiative and presenting some of the most remarkable statements made during the discussions.

Presenting the Aleko Today issue of LIK, writer Yordan Eftimov said that the initiative passed better than planned because of the diversity of ideas and opinions expressed during the discussions, where various ideas, phrases, and situations from Konstantinov's works and life were interpreted from today's point of view.

 LIK Editor-in-Chief Georgi Lozanov said that BTA's campaign was the most lasting and large-scale event dedicated to Konstantinov's 160th birth anniversary. At the foundation of the Aleko Today issue of LIK is the campaign itself, its stages, passing through all of the BTA press clubs and the meetings with the local communities. Included in the issue are the 160 words written for the 160th anniversary by 160 Bulgarians with a significant presence in the public life from around the country. 

BTA Director Generak Kiril Valchev said that LIK's issue about Aleko Konstantinov is a memory about the memory. In his words, the issue preserves on paper the memory about Konstantinov of Bulgarians who lived in 2023 and who BTA invited throughout that year to talks about the writer in its national press clubs across Bulgaria. It is important to seek the answer to the question how we keep the memory about our heroes outside of the days when round anniversaries are marked.

In that relation, this spring BTA and the Bulgaria Consulate General in Odesa will unveil a memorial tablet in the university where Konstantinov studied at the Faculty of Law from 1881 to 1885, Valchev said. This is an initiative of BTA aimed at creating a Bulgarian place in Odesa that also keeps the memory of Hristo Botev, Vassil Aprilov, Ivan Vazov. That would be  a place where the 50,000 to 60,000 Bulgarians living in Odesa and another 200,000 living in Odesa Region can visit, as well as the participants and guests in the upcoming 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media Abroad, which BTA plans to organize at its national press club in Odesa this year.

Svishtov Mayor Gencho Genchev said that with BTA's initiatives, Konstantinov and all individuals like him cannot possibly be forgotten. He praised the initiative for a memorial tablet in Odesa. In that way, Konstantinov will not be present only in the University of Chicago, where ago a bust monument to him was unveiled over seven years, Genchev recalled.

The event in Svishtov was also attended by Prof Mariyana Bozhinova, Rector of the Dimitar A. Tsenov Academy of Economics, and representatives of cultural institutions in Konstantinov's hometown.