153 YEARS SINCE THE BIRTH OF THE BULGARIAN SATIRIST ALEKO KONSTANTINOV

The 153rd birth anniversary of the Bulgarian satirist Aleko Konstantinov was marked with celebrations in his home town of Svishtov, situated on the banks of the river Danube, North Bulgaria.

The celebrations gathered many writers, intellectuals and patriots from the country and abroad. One of the highlights this year was the opening of the renovated gallery in the birthplace of the famous writer, which has been one of the most visited tourists sites in the town.

As part of the tradition, the International "Aleko Konstantinov" Humor Short Story Award took place. This year’s laureate was the Belarusian author Vladimir Orlov for the short story “My Dream of Becoming a Spy”.

Aleko Konstantinov is recognized as one of Bulgaria’s greatest satirists. He was born on 13 January 1863 in the Danube town of Svishtov. He wrote pamphlets and short stories. Bai Ganyo is an emblematic character from Aleko Konstantinov’s 1895 novel of the same name. It is a cycle of stories, which follow the misadventures of the rose-oil salesman Ganyo Balkanski (“Bai” is a Bulgarian title of intimate respect) as he travels in Europe.

Konstantinov was a cosmopolitan traveler and was the first Bulgarian to write about his visits to Western Europe and America. His visits to the World Exhibitions in Paris in 1889, Prague in 1891 and Chicago in 1893 provided Bulgarian readers, who had recently gained independence from nearly 500 years of Ottoman rule, with a portrait of the developed world. Konstantinov's travel experiences gave forth the travel notes called "To Chicago and Back".

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