site.btaCultural Platform Dedicated to Writer Stefan Gechev to Be Presented on Monday

A four-language cultural platform, dedicated to the work of writer, playwright and translator Stefan Gechev will be presented at the Greek Embassy here on January 29, said the Hellenic Business Council in Bulgaria.

The presentation will highlight both Gechev’s life and work and the cultural ties between Bulgaria and Greece. Actors will recite poems by Gechev in Bulgarian and Greek.

Stefan Gechev was born in Rousse in 1911 and died in 2000. After graduating in 1934 in Slavic Philology from the Sofia University, he held a number of diplomatic appointments in Athens, Bratislava and Warsaw. However, Gechev was fired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs because he was not a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party and he started working as an editor in various magazines.

Since the beginning of the 1950s he began to translate Greek poetry into Bulgarian, including works by Konstantinos Kavafis, Aris Dikteos, Giorgos Seferis, Odysseas Elitis and Yannis Ifantis.

In 1996, Gechev received the Order of the Golden Cross of the Legion of Honor on behalf of the President of the Republic of Greece. In 1999, he received a Gold Medal from the Greek Translators’ Union.