Boris Aprilov

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Boris Aprilov
Collage of Boris Aprilov in Sofia, 1975, his yacht 'Ahasfer' in the Black Sea, 1986, and the Dead Sea, Israel, 1992.
Born	Atanas Vassilev Djavkov (1921-03-21)21 March 1921 Malko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, Europe
Died	10 April 1995(1995-04-10) (aged 74) Tel Aviv, Israel
Resting place	Carmel Hayfa, Israel
Occupation	Novelist, short story writer, dramaturge

Atanas Vassilev Djavkov, better known as his pseudonym Boris Aprilov (Bulgarian: Борис Априлов) (21 March 1921 – 10 April 1995), was a Bulgarian writer, playwright, dramaturge, satirist and humourist, well known for his novels, plays, screenplays, and children's literature. He published works under the names Ahasver, Aho, Ahoto, and other aliases in the humorist journal Starshel.

Biography[]

Atanas Vassilev Djavkov, known as Boris Aprilov, was born on March 21st, 1921, in the small Bulgarian town of Malko Tarnovo.^[1] His father Vassil's family lived on welfare in Lozengrad until the liberation of Bulgaria from the Turkish occupation. His mother Nanka was an illiterate orphan from a peasant family, given at a very young age to a much older disabled veteran in an arranged marriage.^{[citation needed]}

Aprilov's family moved to Burgas, where he completed his education.^[2] From his early school years, he published short stories, satiric essays, poetry, and prose in local newspapers.

In 1945, Boris Aprilov married Shela (Rachel) Abraham Cohen, born in Burgas (06.12.1918 – 09.02.1996, Tel-Aviv). They met in the Burgas town library, brought together by their shared passion for literature. They lived together until their last days and had two daughters: Djina Vassileva, a fine artist born in Burgas on November 15th, 1945, and Laura Vassileva, a writer born in Sofia (30 May 1950 – 09.02.1991 Hayfa, Israel).^{[citation needed]}

In 1947, Aprilov was invited by the poet Radoy Ralin to work as a columnist for the satiric journal Sturshel, and the family moved to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.^{[citation needed]}

In 1956, in the midst of the Cold War, Aprilov traveled to London and Western Europe with his wife. This trip cost him his career as a journalist at Sturshel.^{[citation needed]}

An anonymous letter identified Boris Aprilov as a spy. It was said that "Nasko" had been working as a British spy from a young age, that he sang aloud famous hits from English and American movies, and that he chose to travel to London instead of Moscow. For the communist regime in Bulgaria, that was enough. Fortunately, Aprilov was warned by the leading editor of the Journal, and he decided to resign before he was fired. But because of this incident, Boris Aprilov was blacklisted by the authorities. Unable to find any employment as a journalist or editor, he lived exclusively off of his literature work.^{[citation needed]}

From 1959 to 1963 Boris Aprilov served as a lead dramaturge and screenplay editor in the Bulgarian State circuses.^[3]

Between 1977 and 1980 he served as a lead dramaturge of the Sliven's Theater for Drama, earning the right to a pension.^{[citation needed]}

Aprilov won many awards for his writing, including the Literary Prize of the Ministry of National Economy ^[4] and the Golden Dolphin's Greatest Award.^[5]

Aprilov left Bulgaria and spent the last three years of his life in Tel Aviv, Israel, with his family. In 1991 his younger daughter died after a battle with lung disease. Shortly after, Aprilov became sick himself. He died on October 4, 1995, in a Tel-Aviv hospital. His wife also died a few months later in Tel Aviv. ^[6]

They had two surviving granddaughters and one grandson.^{[citation needed]}

Works[]

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"Lisko" series[]

Aprilov's best-known works are a series of books for children and adults about an adventurous fox named Lisko. Lisko travels from place to place, meeting characters from folklore and strange new creatures, and helping people along the way. The Lisko books are well known for their sly sense of humour and satirical content, much of which could not be published in adult fiction at the time.

In 2019, 2020, and 2021, some of the Lisko books were reissued with new art by Mira Miroslavova and Petya Dimitrova-Leupep.^[7]

• "The Adventures of Lisko in the Forest" ("Приключенията на Лиско в гората", 1957);
• "The Adventures of Lisko at Sea" ("Приключенията на Лиско по море", 1968)
• "The New Adventures of Lisko" ("Новите приключения на Лиско", 1971) Contains the novels:
  • "Do not Touch the Suitcase" („Не пипай куфара“)
  • "Chimmy" („Чими“)
  • "The Watch" („Часовникът“)
  • "The Little Red Riding Hood" („Червената шапчица“)
  • "The Pit" („Дупката“)
  • "The Python" („Питонът“)
• "The Adventures of Lisko in the Land of the Square Beings" („Приключенията на Лиско в страната на квадратните същества“, 1975)
• "The Newest Adventures of Lisko" („Най-новите приключения на Лиско“, 1975) Contains the novels:
  • "The Ghost" („Привидението“);
  • "The Grand Prise" („Голямата награда“);
• "Ten Adventures of Lisko" („Десет приключения на Лиско“, 1987) Contains the previous eight novels, plus two new:
  • "The Wall" („Стената“)
  • "The Blue Flamingo" („Синьото фламинго“)

Other children's books[]

• "A Ball in the Sea" („Топка в морето“) Fairy tale. 1965
• "Poncho the Foal" („Кончето Пончо“) Fairy tale. 1967
• "The Parrot and The Butterfly" („Папагалчето и пеперудката“) Fairy tale. 1968
• "One Small White Cloud" („Едно малко бяло облаче“) Fairy tale. 1970
• "The Six Little Penguins" („Шестте пингвинчета“. Повест за деца) A novel for children. 1978

Other works[]

Many of Aprilov's work for adults was published in Bulgarian cultural journals and newspapers, such as Sturshel.

• "The Climbing" (BG)

• "Worries" ("Тревоги") Humorous stories and feuilletons. 1953
• "The Peak of Impertinence" ("Върхът на нахалството") Humorous stories. Publisher "Sturshel". 1957
• "Knock-out" ("Нокаут") Humorous stories. Publisher "Sturshel". 1959
• "The Sea is for Everyone" ("Морето е на всички") Modern stories. 1963
• "Pirate Romance" ("Пиратска романтика") Humorous stories. Publisher "Sturshel". 1964
• "A Touch" ("Докосване") Modern stories. 1965
• "The Boss' Muffin" ("Кифлата на началника") Humorous stories. Publisher "Sturshel". 1968
• "The Parrot and The Butterfly" ("Папагалчето и пеперудката") Fairy tale". 1968
• "Autumn Dunes" ("Есенни дюни") Modern stories. 1969
• "An Incident" ("Произшествие") Play. 1969
• "Selected Stories and Novels" ("Избрани разкази и повести") 1971
• "A Story with a Swan" ("История с лебед") Humorous stories. Publisher "Sturshel". 1979
• "The Defense of Sparta" ("Отбраната на Спарта") Modern stories and novels. 1982
• "Four Novels" ("Четири Повести") 1984;
• "The Hour of the eastern breeze" ("Часът на източния бриз") Stories and novels. 1986
• "A Delicate Mood" ("Деликатно настроение") Stories and novels. 1986
• "Distant Sailing" ("Далечно плаване") Novels. 1988
• "The Hawaii Islands" ("Хавайските острови") Novel published posthumously in 1997
• "Traversetown" ("Траверстаун") Unfinished story
• "Anthology-Bulgarian Marine Novelists" Sofia (2002), University Publisher "St Clement of Ochrid" compilators, Atanas Stoichev, Boris Aprilov, Varban Stamatov, Georgi Ingilizov, Emil Markov, Jivko Angelov, Konstantin Ploshtakov, Kosta Radev, Nikola Radev, Peyu Bogdanov, Petar Kazalarski, Slavcho Chernishev, Tihomir Iordanov, Todor Velchev, Zvetan Minkov ISBN 954-07-1706-X.

Stageplays[]

Greatly fascinated by playwrights, Aprilov wrote many dramas and puppet plays, for both children and adults, many of which have been played abroad. Most popular is the puppet play "Chimi", played in many theaters around the world for decades. A movie based on it was made, named "Thimi" in DDR.

The Egg

A children's puppet play about an egg that does not want to hatch 'due to its unusual nature', but is convinced to hatch by its mother's love.^[8]

It was performed in the State Puppet Theatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where it received a gold medal from the Golden Dolphin awards.^[9]

The Six Little Penguins

A children's puppet play.

It was performed in the Czwerc Puppet Theatre in Białystok, Poland, where it received the Golden Dolphin's greatest award. ^[10]

Chimi

A play for young audiences.

It has been performed in a number of countries, including the UK, where Merseyside Young People's Theatre Company presented it in Liverpool schools in 1986/87.

Movie Screenplays[]

Several movies and cartoons are based on Aprilov's work.

• Petimata ot "Mobi Dick“ (1970)

... a.k.a. "The Five from the Moby Dick" – Europe (English title)

• Zdrachavane (1989)(1970) 1 2

... a.k.a. "Dusk" – Europe (English title)

• Byagstvo v Ropotamo (1973)

... a.k.a. "Flight to the Ropotamo" – Europe (English title)

• Opera za edin leshnik (1974)

... a.k.a. "Opera for a Hazelnut" – Europe (English title)

• Vazdishka na oblekchenie (1982)

... a.k.a. "Sigh of Relief" – Europe (English title)

• Timmi(1985) (TV) (play)

...aka Chimi.

References[]

External links[]

• Boris Aprilov on WordPress
• Boris Aprilov on Facebook

(in Bulgarian)

• "The Adventures of Foxy at Sea" (1968)(BG)
• "Ten Adventures of Foxy" (1987)(BG)
• About Boris Aprilov
• Boris Aprilov: The lost Atlantis of the Bulgarian youths literature.
• Boris_Aprilov
• Boris-Aprilov-filmografie
• Boris Aprilov at IMDb
• About Boris Aprilov (BG)
• Boris Aprilov DE
• Duck Duck Go Boris Aprilov
• "The Six Little Pinguins" in Mexico
• "The Six Little Pinguins" in Iran at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 July 2011)