Voydan Pop Georgiev – Chernodrinski

Vojdan Pop Georgiev
Born Voydan Pop Georgiev
(1875-01-15)January 15, 1875
Selci, Ottoman Empire (today in Struga Municipality, Republic of Macedonia)
Died January 8, 1951(1951-01-08) (aged 75)
Sofia, Bulgaria
Pen name "Chernodrinski"
Occupation playwright and dramatist
Nationality Ottoman/Bulgarian
Citizenship Ottoman/Bulgarian
Genre drama
Notable works "Macedonian Blood Wedding"
The front page of "Macedonian Bloody Wedding" (Sofia, 1900)

Voydan Pop Georgiev – Chernodrinski (Bulgarian: Войдан Попгеоргиев - Чернодрински, January 15, 1875 in Selci, Ottoman Empire, (present day Republic of Macedonia) – January 8, 1951, Sofia, Bulgaria) (born Voydan Popgeorgiev Kuzmanov[1]) was a Bulgarian[2][3] playwright and dramatist from the region of Macedonia. His pseudonym is derived from Black Drin (Cherni Drin, Bulgarian: Черни Дрин), a river flowing through his home-village. Today he is considered an ethnic Macedonian writer in the Republic of Macedonia and as a figure who laid the foundations of the Macedonian theatre and the dramatic arts.[4][5]

Biography

Pop Georgiev was born in 1875 in the village of Selci, in the present-day Struga Municipality of Republic of Macedonia. He studied initially in Ohrid, then in the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki, but moved with his family in 1890 in Bulgaria, where Voydan graduated from the First Male High School in Sofia. Here he became a member of the Young Macedonian Literary Association. Later Chernodrinski studied law in Austria and Switzerland, but failed to graduate and moved back to Ottoman Macedonia, where he worked as Bulgarian teacher. Afterward he returned to Bulgaria and became a head of the traveling troupe "Grief and comfort" (Bulgarian: Скръб и утеха) (Skrb I Uteha), founded in 1901 and renamed in 1902 as "Macedonian Capital Theater" (Bulgarian: Столичен македонски театър). In Sofia he wrote the most famous of his works, the play Macedonian Bloody Wedding (Makedonska Kărvava Svadba). Voydan reworked it later to give the plot and the libretto for the famous opera "Tsveta" by maestro Georgi Atanasov.[6] After the Young Turk Revolution in 1908 Pop Georgiev moved with his traveling troupe back in Ottoman Macedonia. During the Balkan wars he was mobilized into the Bulgarian Army. During the First World War Chernodrinski served as Bulgarian officer and created the "Soldier Songs" cycle. After the wars he continued with his theatrical activities in Bulgaria. Towards the end of 1922 he formed a new drama theater under the name "Ilinden". In the mid-30s, Aleksandar Shoumenoff, owner of the First Bulgarian Book Store in Granite City, USA, published part of the works of Chernodrinski. The text wasn't translated into English but his works and plays became popular among Macedono-Bulgarian emigration. At this time Chernodrinski sympathized with IMRO leader Ivan Mihaylov.[7] During the Second World War and the subsequent annexation of Macedonia from Bulgaria (1941-1944), Voydan's troupe organized performances there.

Pop Georgiev died in Sofia in 1951, and later a commemorative plaque was set on his home.[8] After the death of Pop Georgiev in SR Macedonia, the drama "Macedonian Bloody Wedding" was published, but some small corrections were introduced in the text, i.e. the words "Bulgarians" have been deleted, or replaced with "Christians".[9]

Works

Besides Voydan's most popular work "Macedonian Bloody Wedding" published in 1900, he published several other literary works as well, including:[10]

  • The woodcutters (Дърварите) (1895)
  • In the barroom (В механата) (1895)
  • Macedonian emigration (Македонска емиграция) (1897)
  • Of the head we suffer (От главата си патиме) (1902)
  • The slave and the agha (Робът и агата) (1902)
  • Evil for evil (Зло за зло) (1903)
  • Skilled workers (Майстори) (1903)
  • The spirit of the freedom (Духът на свободата) (1909)
  • On the river (На реката) (1921)
  • On New Year (На Нова година) (1921)
  • Tzar Pir (Царъ Пиръ) (1921)
  • The storms near Vardar (Бурите на Вардар) (1925)
  • Cveta the duchess (Цвета войводката) (1929)
  • Slav Dragota (Слав Драгота) (1930)

In the 1960s his work "Macedonian Bloody Wedding" was reworked and turned into a film in Communist Yugoslavia.

References

  1. ↑ Спомени на В. Чернодрински, в. “Македонски вести”, София, 1936 г., бр. 70-75 Chernodrinski's memories
  2. ↑ Иван Богданов - "Тринадесет века българска литература", 1983, Наука и изкуство, page. 177
  3. ↑ Кристина Тошева - "Енциклопедия на българския театър: Актьори. Режисьори. Драматурзи", Труд, 2005, ISBN 978-954-528-502-8
  4. ↑ Литература на македонскиот јазик, Георги Сталев, Просветно Дело, Скопје 1995.
  5. ↑ The life of Chernodrinski
  6. ↑ "Любомир Сагаев — Книга за операта (8); Book on opera, Lyubomir Sagaev, 1983" (in Bulgarian). bg3.chitanka.info. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
  7. ↑ Сп. България - Македония, бр. 3, 2007 г.Писмо на български общественици от юли 1936 г. до турския министър-председател Исмет Иньоню.
  8. ↑ Електронен регистър на паметниците и художествените елементи на територията на Столична Община, Войдан Чернодрински, паметна плоча.
  9. ↑ Йорданов, Ник., Случаят Войдан Чернодрински – “Македонска кървава сватба” и историите на тяхната “История”, в-к "Културен форум", 25 фев. 2005, (in Bg).
  10. ↑ Иван Ивановски, 25 години театарски игри Војдан Чернодрински, Скопје 1990
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