« The poet who does not bow his head »: The Czech Center celebrates the birth of Georgi Zarkin
The Czech Center in Sofia will celebrate 85 years since the birth of journalist and poet Georgi Zarkin, entitled « The poet, who does not bow his head, » the cultural institution announced on its website. In early August 1977, he was killed without court and sentence in the Pazardzhik prison.
Father Paulo Cortezi, Lachezar Zarkin – son of the poet and Dr. Dimana Ivanova will speak about the life and work of Georgi Zarkin. The activity of Belene Island Foundation and its initiatives in memory of the victims of communism will present arch. Alexander Genchev. The moderator of the event will be Dr. Rubilina, Director of the Czech Center. Actor Marian Marinov and violinist Christopher Parvanov will have the special participation.
Georgi Zarkin is the author of the poetry collections « Beyond the Draw » (1994), « From the Temple of the Self -Run » (2011), « Tides » (2012, « The Apostle. Traged in five actions » (2022), the novel « Honor » (2008, 20 « The Narrator Photographer » (2025).
Georgi Zarkin: The Bulgarian Spirit, suppressed under the boots of the slaves, disappeared
He was born on March 3, 1940 in the village of Beli Iskar, Samokovsko. As a child, he has encountered the communist regime – his father, as well as other villagers and citizens from Samokov, have been killed without court and sentence in the Black Skala area over Borovets. Zarkin managed to record Cinematography, after which he worked as a journalist in the Samokov Commune newspaper and as a photojournalist in the Agricultural Flag newspaper.
Following the discovery of the plot and the death of Ivan Todorov – Gorunya in 1965, he was sentenced for his anti -communist views and activities to 6 years in prison. After the invasion of the Troops of the Warsaw Pact in Czechoslovakia in August 1968, Zarkin wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister at that time Todor Zhivkov. In it, he protests against the communist dictatorship in the country – he wrote openly about the dictatorial nature of the regime, about political court proceedings and the lack of independent justice. Zarkin also announces a 28-day hunger strike. In his protest to the prison chief, dating back to November 2, 1968, shortly after the suppression of the Prague Spring, Zarkin wrote:
| « If I have to believe that Russia is the liberator of Bulgaria, it is as if I believe that the wolf is herbivores. From whom the five Warsaw armies of Czechoslovakia were released? Yes! Yes! |
Since 1975 he has been in the Pazardzhik prison, where he was moved there because of the fear of the power that the participants in the international writing congress, which would have taken place the same year in Sofia, would want to meet with Zarkin, whose poems were read on Radio Free Europe. On August 7, two criminal prisoners were launched into his cell to commit the murder.
The injured biography of 1989
On November 10, 2014, Georgi Zarkin was posthumously awarded the Order of Civil Merit by President Rosen Plevneliev.
