Let us now praise great Bulgars!

[muckefuck]

God, I will never, ever get bored with this wide wonderful world. Today, I'm much indebted to foodpoisoningsf, without whom I might have gone another moment without ever learning of Bulgarian Romani drag queen performer Azis. Quelle tragédie! (Shame on you, aadroma, for shirking your responsibilities! What the hell do I have a Eurovision fag on my flist for if not for shit like this?)

The bit in Wikipedia about him being the second highest ranked living person on the list of "100 Greatest Bulgarians of All Time" naturally prompted me to track down the complete list. bunj will be relieved to find that our pop singer didn't beat out his beloved Khan Krum, but he may be disappointed to find the New Sennacherib ranked just below Tsar Kaloyan (#16) and well down from Khan Asparukh (#1). Semiologists will be appalled to find Tzvetan Todorov isn't listed at all, but he's more French than Bulgarian these days in any case. And what will the Greeks make of seeing Sts. Cyril and Methodius sharing the #5 spot? Or mathematicians of seeing the Bulgars claim Atanasoff as their own?

Here, for shits and grins, the Top 25 (anglicised for your convenience):

1. Khan Asparukh
2. King Boris I
3. Vasil Levski (revolutionary)
4. Ivan Vazov (literary author)
5. Sts. Cyril and Methodius
6. St. Paisius of Hilendar
7. Petar Danov (mystic)
8. Tsar Simeon the Great
9. Stefan Stambolov (revolutionary)
10. Christo Botev (footballer)
11. John Atanasoff (American-born mathematician)
12. Christo Stoichkov (footballer)
13. Baba Vanga (mystic)
14. Todor Zhivkov (Communist dictator)
15. Georgi Asparukhov (footballer)
16. Tsar Kaloyan
17. Khan Krum
18. Tsar Ivan Asen II
19. Vladimir Dimitrov-Maistora (painter)
20. St. John of Rila
21. Azis
22. Ivan Kostov (politician)
23. Aleko Konstantinov (literary author--with a Chicago connexion!)
24. Volen Siderov (politician)
25. Georgi Benkovski (revolutionary)

Comments

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Todor Zhivkov is #14? Todor Zhivkov?

If Atanasoff is on there, Todorov should be.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

My reaction exactly. I checked the spelling three times to make sure I'd transliterated it correctly and it wasn't supposed to be Todor Zhikov, the beloved Bulgarian talk-show host, or something.

But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. The transition from state socialism to a market economy has been rough in Bulgaria, worse than elsewhere in Eastern Europe. A lot of older people have had a great deal of trouble adjusting to the new system, and in an aging population (the median age in Bulgarian is 40), that's a significant bloc. It's not surprising to see their longing for the "good old days" when there wasn't much to be had but at least it was guaranteed reflected in a poll like this.

[thedeli.livejournal.com]

And what will the Greeks make of seeing Sts. Cyril and Methodius sharing the #5 spot?

Really! WTF? Why two guys from Thessaloniki, but not Filipp Kirkorov from Varna?!

[zompist.livejournal.com]

Where is Ivan Derzhanski on the list...?

[bunj.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, the Wikipedia version of the list (link in Azis's entry) has Levski in the number one spot.

I was happy to see that my favorite living Bulgarian, Simeon Sakskoburggotski is on the larger list (#75). All in all, a lot of rulers made the list, but I guess that's to be expected.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

How strange! I wonder if the list I copied from the official site is the 23rd December version rather than the finalised one. The first ten names would be in alphabetical order by given name according to the Cyrillic sequence (where, for instance, V comes right after B and CH/KH comes near the end).

Curious...

[monshu.livejournal.com]

Saints, mystics, and political types--what does that say?

Re: Curious...

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

It tells me that the Bulgarians are ready to be let in on the Secret.

[wwidsith.livejournal.com]

The most prominent one for me when I was in Bulgaria was number 3, Levski. Every street and square seems to be named after him. I always thought they named the currency after him too, but having just looked it up apparently "lev" is archaic Bulgarian for "lion"...