годишнината

Comrades, At our current meeting in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Union of Bulgarian Writers, we started an argument with the Chairman of the Committee on Culture and Art, Dr. Petar Vutov. I asked him to give me the floor later, so that I could prepare accordingly and get into tune, so to speak. But he told me: "It is not possible, Comrade Zhivkov, because the Chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Writers, Dr. Kamen Kalchev, will also speak, and other comrades will speak, and there will also be a literary program." It seems, as I understood from Dr. Vutov's information, that today's meeting will be more difficult than your solemn meeting last night. (Merry cheering. Applause). The second issue of our argument with Dr. Vutov concerns whether I should just raise a toast or deliver a speech. I do not know why Dr. Vutov, by giving me the floor, limits me and suggests that I raise a toast. I could not imagine how you, the writers, would exist if you did not write, and how we, the political and state figures, would exist if we did not deliver speeches. After all, that is how we earn our living. (Merry cheering. Applause). Dear writers, Dear comrades, Distinguished guests, I am fulfilling a pleasant assignment from the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, the people's government and my comrades - members of the Politburo and secretaries of the Central Committee of the party, who are present at this meeting. I greet you most cordially, warmly fatherly - I mean the party, friendly - I mean our comradeship and ties, on the occasion of the glorious 50th anniversary of the Union of Bulgarian Writers. (Prolonged applause).

There are writers who play a major role in public and literary life, but remain alien to the "noisy fame". Their activity resembles those deep water currents that change the climate, enable flowers and trees to grow in distant northern countries, while they themselves are inconspicuous, invisible, unknown. Such a creator in our communist anti-fascist literature is Nikolay Khrelkov. His charm as a person and a poet, his role as a communist-teacher are perfectly understood by those who had the opportunity to be in personal contact with the writer, to be friends with him, to experience his beneficial influence. "Visiting Khrelkov - shared the heroine of the RMS Lilyana Dimitrova - is a holiday for me. He seems to be a person from another world." Many writers such as Goncho Belev, Lyudmil Stoyanov, etc. To a large extent, they grew up as socialist realist artists, taking the decisive step from the general democratic anti-fascist positions to the positions of Marxism-Leninism thanks to the personal friendship and the influence that Nikolay Khrelkov had on them.

On October 16, 1968, in Sofia, in the great hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, a solemn celebration was held on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the birth of one of the most prominent representatives of Bulgarian literary studies - Acad. Mihail Arnaudov. The hall turned out to be cramped for the numerous admirers of the jubilee, among whom were prominent Bulgarian public figures, writers, scientific and cultural figures, students, and citizens. The presidium was occupied by Acad. Todor Pavlov, Acad. Angel Balevski, Acad. Pantelei Zarev, Acad. Vladimir Georgiev, Patriarch Kiril, Georgi Dzhagarov, Efrem Karanfilov, Stoyko Bozhkov - director of the Institute of Literature, and others.