Dimcho Debelyanov (1887 - 1916)

Dimcho Debelyanov is one of the greatest Bulgarian poets. He was born on March 25th, 1887, in Koprivshtitsa, in a family of a tailor. At that time Koprivshtitsa was a center of a keen national spirit - the native place of eminent figures of Bulgarian Revival period: Lyuben and Petko Karavelovi,  Naiden Gerov, Stoyan Chomakov, and many others. If you visit Koprivshtsa, you should not miss Debelyanovs House Museum (below).

     
 
Dimcho Debelyanov grew up in a large family. His real name was Dincho (Dimcho was his pen-name). After his fathers death, the family left Koprivstitza and moved to Plovdiv, where Dimchos eldest brother, working as a clerk, took care of the whole family.

Later, due to hardships again, the family left Plovdiv and went to Ihtiman and Sofia. In Sofia, Dimcho finished his secondary education. His fate of an orphan as well as his deep attachment to his mother, defined some of the typical aspects in his creative biography as a poet. Memories of Koprivstitza sunny days, his native house and early childhood happy days used to haunt him, driving him back to his idyllic past ...

Later he was a reporter in newspapers and magazines, translator, editor and journalist, as well as a stenographer in the National Assembly. He had a great wish to study literature, but never managed to. Debelyanov left his clerks job and joined the army as a volunteer in World War I. October 2, 1916, he was killed in a combat near Demir -Hisar. He was just 29.

You could also go to: Poetry of the First World War, BG Poets