Stoyko Bozhkov

Hristo Smirnenski carries on the wings of his poetry the indomitable rush of the revolutionary storm and the most daring dreams of the sunny day of humanity. The very movement of the many-faced life has found in his poetry an inspired poetic embodiment, capable of greatly affecting the mind and heart of man. Deeply and realistically embracing the main features of the revolutionary era, the dark spots in the cruel dying world of capitalism and the whirlwind flight of the oppressed lowlands to the gates of communism; reflecting in unique pictures and images the very storm of the emerging socialist world, embodying the trembling enthusiasm and unshakable faith in the victorious march of the Great October Socialist Revolution and in the future day of humanity, Smirnenski's work opened new horizons in the development of Bulgarian literature. The scope of his poetic talent is so wide, the enchanting figurative wealth of his works has so deeply summarized the development of Bulgarian literature, so close is the connection of his poetic visions with the people's life and dreams for the future, that it contributes to the unshakable force of laying the foundations of socialist-realist art in our country without much toil and detours. With his life and work, Smirnenski brilliantly showed that the fusion of the writer with the revolutionary aspiration of the masses, placing his heart and lyre in harmony with communist ideas, in the service of the revolution and the liberation struggle of the people, fertilizes his talent, stimulates his creativity, elevates his thought. After Smirnenski, a great writer in Bulgarian literature could only be the one who stands on the positions of realism, on the side of the struggling people. This enormous contribution of Smirnensky had a beneficial effect in two directions: on the one hand, it opened the broad road of socialist revolutionary literature, united democratic writers on the basis of the anti-fascist struggle; on the other hand, it dug a deep chasm for modernism, which could no longer find fertile ground for flourishing in our country. The entire Bulgarian revolutionary literature, supported and guided by the Communist Party, followed the path outlined by Smirnensky. Along this path, learning creatively from Smirnensky, Bulgarian literature created works that are unfading in their poetic power and inspiration, in their insight into the life and pathos of the struggle.

There are writers who become more vital, younger with each passing day: they seem to embody the eternal youth of humanity in its endless striving for happiness, forever calling forward to new horizons. Such an eternally young poet - a warrior for human happiness, who with his ardent love for people illuminates the path to their future, is the great Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of whose birth is celebrated this year with special solemnity and gratitude by all working humanity. His wonderful poetic creation, which flew like a free bird from the depths of the heart of Ukraine, with unfading freshness and power today sounds in many languages ​​​​throughout the world and awakens ardent urges for justice and freedom in millions of people. Shevchenko's name stands alongside the names of the greatest sons of humanity, who gave all the riches of their hearts, all the flame of their feelings for the triumph of man, for his victory over oppressors and oppressors, for the affirmation of love and brotherhood among all workers.

Our people are proud of everything they have done over the past twenty years. Under the leadership of the Bulgarian Communist Party, with its inspired work and high enthusiasm, it has accomplished many heroic feats, embodied in everything that surrounds us: in the beautiful fields and gardens of our homeland, in the bubbling canals of the irrigation systems, in the factory chimneys rising to the sky, in the white buildings of the factories, in the endless electric power lines, in the black asphalt strips of the roads, and in the new homes of our cities and villages immersed in fresh greenery. The symphony of economic indicators in the days of the twentieth anniversary of our revolution sounds powerful and full, rises crescendo and solemnly. The centuries-old backwardness of our homeland has been overcome, and on the clear horizon behind the scaffolding and tower cranes, the approaches to the heights of communism are outlined.

The question of tradition and innovation is one of the key problems of Marxist-Leninist aesthetics. It permeates all aspects of our art from the past and the present, and its correct scientific resolution supports its future achievements. The reports presented examined the issues of tradition and innovation in depth and in many ways, both theoretically and historically. The speeches developed many aspects of the problem. However, we cannot help but point out that the way in which the discussion was organized and carried out could not sufficiently create the necessary prerequisites for the development of a creative exchange of opinions. The reports were presented only on the eve of the discussion, and there was no opportunity to prepare speeches on the specific questions raised in them. Nevertheless, with their speeches, the comrades touched upon a significant number of new aspects of the problem and of literature, especially contemporary literature, thereby contributing to the further development of the ideas addressed in the reports.

The purple flag of the 9th Congress of the Bulgarian Communist Party has been raised over the homeland. It is red and fluttering over the huge buildings and high furnaces of Kremikovtsi, over the oil and gas towers of Dolni Dubnik and Chiren, over the quiet and sunny buildings of the Semiconductor Plant in Botevgrad, over the dozens of construction scaffoldings, over the thousands of machines and looms, tractors and combines, everywhere where the hearts of the many millions of working people beat. Our people, with joyful excitement and confidence, are rallying even more closely under this flag and with increased strength are moving towards the new five-year plan. The grandiose successes of our country in the years since the 8th Congress of the Bulgarian Communist Party, which adopted the prospects for our development until 1980, are recognized by all. Our people have walked a difficult, tense path, transforming our homeland into an advanced state. When we imagine our native landscape, dotted with the huge buildings of factories, our fields, furrowed by machines and adorned with the fruits of abundance, cities and villages, the products of industry and agriculture, the people who do everything like the most caring owners, we cannot help but feel a sense of pride in our socialist system - the basis of all our successes, in the foresight of our leading Bulgarian Communist Party. For all our conquests are the implemented plans and programs of the party, they have been transformed by the people's hands, their ideas with intelligence, love and enthusiasm. And the fact that under its care and guidance we have conquered so much fills us with high self-confidence and human dignity, with confidence in the future, which will be outlined at the upcoming congress.

The establishment and development of the Institute of Literature is a result of the successful implementation of the socialist revolution in our country. For the first time, research work on the thousand-year-old Bulgarian literature became a state affair: through systematic and purposeful study, its riches are made available to the widest layers of the people in the interest of their cultural elevation and spiritual enrichment. The Institute is called upon to develop literary science in its diversity, to improve its capabilities and, more actively, to support the flourishing of our contemporary fiction and to raise the artistic consciousness of the builders of socialist society.

Every time we come into contact with the poetry of Hristo Smirnenski, we are struck by the flames and lights of our socialist revolution. We remain with particles of his ardor, of his heart, of his boundless love for the "hard-working brothers", for the people's forces unleashed by the revolution, for Moscow blazing with its purple rubies. In these communications with the poet, impulses for struggle, firmness in upholding the communist ideal, confidence in its triumph were born and are born. And it is especially important that these feelings and thoughts arise not only in the conscious fighter, but above all in the worker, among the broadest layers of the people, among those who themselves are the engines of history.

Many still remember his soldierly figure: in winter with a black coat and a black soft hat, in summer - always with a white jacket, an open a la Byron shirt, dark blue trousers and a white straw hat. In bad weather, an umbrella hangs from his elbow. Most often, in one hand hangs a net in which he takes home a loaf of bread or biscuits. He was usually thoughtful, absorbed in himself. His eyes were lost under thick eyebrows. But when they focused on someone - they did deep dissections, doubted everything, looked for secrets and truths. Concentration did not prevent him from being polite to every acquaintance he met. If not with a joke, with a touch of two fingers to the brim of his hat - he greeted them politely. Even children! An expression of attentive attitude towards a person, a sign of a lively attitude towards the world around him! And outwardly he looked gloomy, indifferent, even proud and haughty towards everything around him. He rarely walked the streets. Usually he passed them to go to an acquaintance for a conversation or to some of the capital's cafes. In his last years, he especially often stayed in the editorial office of "Vestnik na zhenata" or with Nikolay Liliev at the National Theater.