site.bta16 Years since the Passing of Bulgarian Writer and Historian Vera Mutafchieva

Bulgarian writer and historian Vera Mutafchieva passed away in Sofia on June 9, 2009 just months after her 80th jubilee.

She was born in Sofia on March 28, 1929. He father was a noted historian, Prof. Petar Mutafchiev.

Having graduated in Sofia from the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia in 1951, she earned a PhD degree from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) for a thesis on "Feudal Rent in the Ottoman Empire in the 15th - 16th Centuries". In 1978 she became a doctor of science in history. She received honorary doctorates from Sofia University in 1999 and from New Bulgarian University in 2000. On July 5, 2004, she was elected full member (Academician) of BAS.

After a stint as a junior research associate at the BAS Institute of History (1959-1963), Mutafchieva was among the founders of the BAS Institute of Balkan Studies, where she worked as a senior research associate between 1964 and 1980. She headed the Centre for Ancient Languages and Cultures (1979-1981) and was director of the Bulgarian Research Institute in Austria (1980-1982). Between 1993 and 1996, she was Vice President of BAS. Mutafchieva headed the Agency for Bulgarians Abroad (1997-1998).

Starting from 1952, she wrote a number of research papers and studies on Bulgaria's history during the Ottoman period, along with popular-science articles for the press, literary and journalist essays and reminiscences. Mutafchieva is the author of more than 35 novels, most of which have undergone multiple reprints. The Case of Cem has had ten print runs in Bulgaria and has been translated into 13 languages: Turkish, German, Romanian, Polish, Russian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, French, Estonian, Greek, Croatian and English. The English version, produced by 2023 International Booker Prize winner Angela Rodel, came out in 20024 and was book-launched at the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Rodel later presented her translation at events in Chicago and New York.

Mutafchieva's other important works include Chronicle of the Troubled Time, The Last Shishmanides, The Knight, The Trial: 1873, A Book on Sophronius, Alcybiades the Great, Alcybiades the Lesser, Foretold by Pagane, I, Anna Comnena, The Bombs, Unraveling My Father, Family Saga and NonFables.

She wrote the script for the first Bulgarian blockbuster Khan Asparukh (1981). In 1984, a 92-minute English-language version of the film, titled 681 AD: The Glory of Khan, was made for international release.

Mutafchieva's numerous national and international honours include a Gottfried von Herder International Award for lifetime achievement (1980), the Order of Cyril and Methodius, First Class (1989), the Panitza Award for journalism of the Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation (1995), the Order of the Balkan Range (1999), the Bulgarian-German Forum Award for contribution to the establishment of civil society in Bulgaria and furthering Bulgarian-German relations (2000), and the first Paisii Hilendarski State Prize (2000). 

In 2010, BTA ran a curtainraiser about the launch of www.veramutafchieva.net, a website devoted to Vera Mutafchieva:

"Sofia, March 25 (Penka Momchilova of BTA) - A website about Academician Vera Mutafchieva, www.veramutafchieva.net, designed as a book, in Bulgarian and in English, will be presented at New Bulgarian University (NBU) at 4:00 p.m. today, marking the writer's birthday, the initiators said.
 
Apart from biodata, the Biography section includes notes about the writer's life, her responses to major public developments in which she was involved, dialogues and tributes.

The Bibliography section lists her publications and quotes from the 12 volumes of her Selected Works.

There is also a collection of interviews and reviews on her writings, as well as a virtual album of photographs of her, her family, colleagues, friends, and places she visited.
 
The idea of the website came from Prof. Bogdan Bogdanov, Chairman of the NBU Board of Trustees. Mutafchieva's daughter, Rada Mutafchieva, and her friends Genka Markova and Boyko Kiryakov.

The Visitors' Book is open to anyone who wishes to leave a message or contribute to expanding and augmenting the Vera Mutafchieva website."