Dimcho Debelyanov Memorial

Dimcho Debelyanov (Bulgarian: имo еелнов) was a Bulgarian poet and novelist who lived from 28 March 1887 to 2 October 1916.

Debelyanov was born in Koprivshtitsa, Bulgaria, to an affluent tailoring family. When his father died in 1896, his family was forced to relocate to Plovdiv, and then to Sofia in 1904. Debelyanov’s longing for Koprivshtitsa inspired his work, and he often spoke about his eight years in Plovdiv with regret, referring to it as “the mournful city.”

Debelyanov studied law, history, and literature at Sofia University’s Faculties of Law, History, and Philosophy, and also translated books in both French and English. At the prompting of friend and fellow poet Pencho Slaveikov, Debelyanov started submitting poems to Bulgarian literary periodicals in 1906, which were accepted and favorably welcomed.

At the time, his poetry were humorous, with symbolist tendencies and topics including dreams, idealism, and the stylization of medieval stories.

Debelyanov worked as a junior clerk for the central meteorological station, a translator, and a freelance writer for the following six years until being mobilized in 1912 into the Balkan army during the Balkan Wars, where he was released in 1914. Debelyanov, who considered himself a pacifist, subsequently volunteered to join the army in 1916. During warfare, Debelyanov’s poetry changed from idealism Symbolism to a simpler, more object-focused Realism.

He was 29 years old when he was killed in a fight with an Irish division in Gorno Karadjovo (now Monokklisia, Greece) in 1916. His bones were placed at Valovishta, now Sidirokastro, Greece, until 1931, when they were transported to his hometown of Koprivshtitsa. Ivan Lazarov, a sculptor, created Debelyanov’s tombstone.

Friends compiled his body of work, which was eventually published posthumously in a two-volume anthology named Stihotvoreniya (Poems) with a collection of letters and personal writings in 1920. Debelyanov’s published poetry remain popular in post-war Bulgaria, despite his brief career.