site.btaBessarabian Bulgarian Poet, Journalist, and Translator Niko Stoyanov Passes Away

Niko Stoyanov, the Bessarabian Bulgarian poet, journalist, and translator, passed away on January 13 at the age of 79 in Chisinau, Moldova, the Society for Relations with Bessarabian and Tavrian Bulgarians Rodolyubets announced on its Facebook page on Wednesday.

Stoyanov, born on January 9, 1947, in Nova Ivanivka, Odesa region, Ukraine, was the author of 18 poetry collections, including Hello! (1976), Thank You (1979), From Sacred Pain (1983), and I, the Bulgarian (1999). He also wrote children’s books, compiled anthologies of Bessarabian Bulgarian poetry, and worked as a translator from Russian, Ukrainian, and Moldovan. His poetry has been translated into Russian, Ukrainian, Moldovan, Estonian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Turkish, and Hungarian.

A prominent advocate of Bessarabian Bulgarian culture, Stoyanov founded the first Bulgarian-language newspaper in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for Bessarabian Bulgarians, Rodno Slovo, in Chisinau in 1988. The newspaper aimed to preserve cultural heritage, share historical and contemporary knowledge of the Bulgarian people, and connect Bulgarians across territorial borders.

Stoyanov described his work as deeply rooted in the history and experiences of Bessarabian Bulgarian communities. His emblematic poem Remain a Bulgarian became widely recognized among Bulgarians in Ukraine and Moldova.

He graduated from Kharkiv State University, specializing in Russian and Ukrainian philology, and mastered literary Bulgarian through self-education. He also scripted about 20 documentary films, including In the Green Steppe of Budjak… (1982), the first film about Bessarabian Bulgarians.

In his poetic journey, Niko Stoyanov was supported by the Bulgarian poet Andrey Germanov, whom he met in the early 1970s.

"In 1973, when I was a student in Kharkiv, my poetry collection was published in Ukrainian translation. I sent the collection to Andrey Germanov, who at the time was the editor of the magazine Plamuk. In 1974, he wrote me a very inspiring letter. I sent him a folder of my poems, and in the first issue of Plamuk in 1975, he published my poems along with a foreword, which I later included in my first collection. When I visited Sofia, we had long discussions about poetry. He was the teacher who encouraged me," Stoyanov said in an interview for BTA’s LIK magazine.

Speaking about his work, he said: "All my books are significant to me, and I remember all the titles. In them, I reflect the themes that matter to me, shaped by the times. One of the main themes is the fate of Bulgarian settlers in Bessarabia."

Among his honours are the Merited Artist of Moldova, the Honorary Badge from the President of Bulgaria (2003), and medals from the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad. He was a member of both the Union of Writers of Moldova and the Union of Bulgarian Writers and participated actively in cultural organizations promoting Bulgarian heritage in Bessarabia and Tavria. His works are included in Bulgarian language and literature textbooks published in Moldova and Ukraine.