Bulgaria LAUREATE of the BOTEV-PRIZE

[corvaton]

Instituted On 24th July 1972, with a decree of the State Council of the People's Republic of Bulgaria

Awarded to Famous poets for their poetry and contribution to peace, democracy and social progress. This title is given once every five years

Awarded to 12 peoples

Edited August 27, 2009 by corvaton

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[christerd]

HI all collectors!

Does anyone have the names on the awardees of the Botev Prize?

I have 6 names

Laszlo Nagy , Hungary 1976

Rafael Alberti ,Spain 1980

Umberto Eco , Italy

Evgeniy Yevtuschenko , SU

Mario Undetti , Uruguay

Gardine Gordimer , South Africa

Christer

Edited August 31, 2009 by christerd

[Guest Rick Research]

Crossed pistol and pen-- odd imagery for poetry and "peace!"

But a very nice award hallmarked 583 gold using the unaltered old Tsarist hallmark.

[Theodor]

I found out that the Decree number is 1659.

Other names I found are:

Miroslav Krleja /Croatia - Yugoslavia, probably awarded before his death in 1981?/

Mario Benedetti - this is the correct name, not Mario Undetti. The country is Uruguay

Branko Tzvetkovski /Macedonia, 2001/

And for Evgeniy Yevtuschenko, the year is 2006. I'll write you who will be in 2011

Rick, the pistol is a revolutionary symbol. From 1396 to 1878 Bulgaria did not exist. Conquered by the Turks, it was a part of the Ottoman Empire. Of course, through all those centuries, lots of hot heads tried to make a smaller or bigger revolts, to liberate and re-establish the country. One of the greatest figures was Hristo Botev. In 1876 he landed on the Bulgarian side of the Danube river with a detachment of rebels /they boarded an Austrian river ship as passengers, gardeners, but then put on their uniforms and forced the Austrian captain to leave them on the Bulgarian coast, giving him in the end a letter, saying that he was not responsible for the events and that they forced him to stop the ship/. This was not a separate action, at that time the April Uprising of 1876 was going on and the idea was, that he would march through the country and gather a whole army against the Turks. Which did not rally happen. Moving in the country, after several battles with Turkish forces, finally Botev himself was killed. His grave is unknown.

Now for the literature. Botev wrote several poems, considered among the very best in the Bulgarian literature. In patriotic theme. He also wrote feuilletons, articles, etc. He published patriotic newspapers during his exile life out of Bulgaria/Ottoman empire. That is why artists always link his image to the pen and pistol - his whole life was a patriotic bond of the two.

Edited August 31, 2009 by Theodor

[christerd]

Aha, Thanks Theodor

I wonder if there really is 12 awarded ? If you just count the years it would be about 8 until now and we have the names of 8

Now I am waiting for someone to show a pic of a document That would be a sensation !

Christer

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[new world]

Nice one!

[corvaton]

Thank you!

[Graf]

I wonder how many pieces have been minted

I have seen more than 12 over the years on the collectors market

No question that it is one of the rarest Post WW2 award

The marked 14 Karat(583) forGold seems to be the rarest.

I have heard that are single pieces 22 Karat Gold

I have one unmarked ( Ihave never tested it I do not like to damage the surface)

I nearly purhesed marked 583 one couple of years ago

A dealer in Germany had two for sale at the same time?!

Graf

[new world]

No one knows for sure how many were minted.

Several years ago (around 2007-2008) Bulgarian mint sold some non-awarded orders and medals, inlcuding several Botev Prize medals. I managed to buy one, that dealer probably got few pieces as well.

[Graf]

Hi New World,

Thank you for the information.

In my opinion this is one of the best Bulgarian Post WW2 Decorations

Graf