26.05.2018
Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Marija Buric unveiled a monument of Ivan Vazov in Zagreb. The monument is located in the Bundek Park on the Alley of Poets, where the monuments of Alexander Pushkin and Sergey Esenin have found their place.
Below the bust is a verse from "My Songs" written by the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Literature:
"I, too, shall die, for Death can
show no mercy.
Wild grasses round my silent
grave shall crowd.
Someone may pity me, another curse me.
But still my verses shall be read aloud."
"Have look at the inscription - how prophetic, earthly, ordinary and yet ingenious it is, reflecting the character not only of the Bulgarians, but possibly of the entire Balkans," said the Bulgarian Prime Minister and expressed his gratitude that so many of the texts of Ivan Vazov have been translated in Croatian and that today together we pay tribute to his work. The Prime Minister also pointed out that the memory of Vazov will always be a guarantor of the purity of the Bulgarian language.
The initiative of installing the monument of Ivan Vazov in the Croatian capital comes from the embassy of Bulgaria, while the construction and installation of the bust is financed by donations.
The idea of the monument is inspired by the long-standing personal friendship between the Patriarch of the Bulgarian literature and the Croatian novelist and translator Dr. Fran Gundrum Oriovcanin. The Croatian has translated a number of works by Ivan Vazov, including "Under the Yoke", published in the town of Krizevci in 1898.
The unveiling of this monument is of key importance for the demostration of the deep historical links between our two countries in the field of culture and education.
