Fani Popova–Mutafova (Bulgarian: Фани Попова-Мутафова; October 16, 1902 – July 9, 1977) was a Bulgarian author who is considered by many to have been the best-selling Bulgarian historical fiction author ever.[1][2]
Biography
The daughter of Dobry Popov, an officer in the Bulgarian army,[3] she was born in Sevlievo and was educated there, in Sofia[2] and in Turin, Italy, where she also studied piano music.[1] From 1922 to 1925, she studied music in Germany. She first published her work in the journals Vestnik na Zenata, Bulgarska misul and Zlatorog.[2]
Her books sold in record numbers in the 1930s and the early 1940s.[1] In 1936 she took part in the foundation of the Ratniks and was considered one of their main ideologists.[by whom?][citation needed]
Popova–Mutafova joined the European Writers' League (Europäische Schriftstellervereinigung), which was founded by Joseph Goebbels in 1941/42.[4]
She was eventually sentenced to seven years of imprisonment by the Bulgarian communist regime because of her writings (her alleged "pro-German allegiance"), and though released after only eleven months for health reasons (asthma), was forbidden to publish anything between 1943 and 1972.[5] She translated books and plays from Italian for a living then.[1]
She was married to another Bulgarian writer, Chavdar Mutafov.[6]
Popova-Mutafova died in Sofia at the age of 74.[2]
Selected works
Source:[2]
- Солунският чудотворец, historical novel (1929–30)
- Недялка Стаматова (1933)
- Дъщерята на Калояна (Kaloyan's daughter), historical novel (1936)
- Иван Асен II (Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria), historical novel (1936)
- Д-р П. Берон (Doctor Petar Beron, historical novel (1972)
Further reading
Krassimira Daskalova, "A Life in History," Gender and History 14.2 (2002), 321-39.