Petar Mihaylov, PhD student
Institute for Literature
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Sofia, Bulgaria
(17 – 19 November 2023, Harmanli)
https://doi.org/10.53656/bel2024-1-8P
Absract. The article presents the personality of the teacher, social worker, translator, benefactor – Teofano Popova. Her literary heritage remains understudied and lesser known. A special place in her work is occupied by the critical speech dedicated to Ivan Vazov. The fact that a woman offers an interpretation of the work of the then-living author is an indicator of the power of female emancipation among Bulgarian intellectuals from the end of the 19th century. The fact that the writer himself was a guest and listened to this speech is symptomatic of the level of civility and manners he displayed towards women. His letter to Anna Karima from 1921 is famous, because in it he acknowledges the creative success of one of our first female fiction writers. The proposed analysis very briefly also mentions some
artistic works of T. Popova. We hope that this article will be the beginning of a more
detailed study of the case of the great benefactor, who devoted her energy entirely
to the improvement of her hometown of Stara Zagora.
Keywords: Teacher; orator; charity; literary criticism; Ivan Vazov; Teofano Popova; fiction; public speaking; emancipation
