Peyo Yavorov

He fell in love with Mina Todorova, sister of his friend and member of Misal group. She contracted tuberculosis and died eventually in 1910. She was buried in Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris.

Broken and disappointed, he met Lora Karavelova, daughter of statesman Petko Karavelov, and married her in 1912.

Their intense and ardent love was evident from the letters communicated between the two, while he was in Macedonia after marriage. Upon his return, the couple shifted to an apartment on GS Rakovsky Street, Sofia.

Peyo Yavorov was born as Peyo Totev Kracholov on January 1, 1878, in Chirpan, South Bulgaria, to Totyo Kracholov and Gana. His father switched from an artisan shoemaker to winemaker to merchant to make ends meet.

Despite financial issues, his mother encouraged him to pursue education. He got attracted to literature during his school days as the books of Pushkin and Lermontov caught his attention.

He brushed up his skills while reading the works of Bulgarian authors, such as Ivan Vazov, Zachari Stoyanov, and Lyuben Karavelov.

He took up the job of a telegraph operator in 1894, a position through which he travelled extensively across different cities in southern Bulgaria.

While travelling and working, his interest in literature grew bigger. As such, he drafted a few of his initial poems.

His early works were mainly inspired by the struggle of Macedonia (against the Ottoman Empire), sufferings of the Armenian community, and his concern for the peasant class.

Pencho Slaveykov and Krastyo Krastev, the founders of Misal literary and intellectual group, appreciated his work and invited him to Sofia to join their group in 1900. He willingly did so and saw his life change completely for the better.

In 1901, he released his first volume of poems titled ‘Stikhotvoreniya’.

‘Haydushki kopneniya’ (Rebel Dreams) was written by him in 1908 as reminiscences of his struggling days spent in Macedonia.

The sudden death of Mina Todorova formed the basis of his first play ‘V polite na Vitosha’ (At the foot of Vitosha) in 1911.

He published his second play ‘Kogato gram udari, kak ehoto zaglahva’ (When Thunder Roars, the Echo is Lost) in 1912, which was staged in 1913.