Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

A novel by Ilko Minev is a bestseller in Brazil

Photo: BTA/Personal archive

The novel "Onde estão as flores" ("As Flowers Go: Escape to Homeland Amazonia") by Bulgarian writer Ilko Minev ranked second in the list of best-selling books in Brazil for the period 20-26 March 2023, the website Ploshtadslaveikov reported. 

The novel's protagonist, Licco Hazan, is an elderly man born in Bulgaria who settles in Amazonia. The book recounts the little-known and intensely intriguing story of how 50,000 Bulgarian Jews were rescued from the gas chambers during Nazi domination of Europe, details the flow of Jewish immigrants to the country's sparsely populated northern Manaus region and advocates, without ideologizing, a world without war, the book's synopsis in the ranking states.

In a 2018 interview with Radio Bulgaria's Albena Bezovska, Ilko Minev tells how he ended up in Brazil: 'In 1969, something happened in my life that surprised me and turned me into a dissident. In fact, a very good friend of mine became a dissident and the State Security did not believe that I was not involved. It became difficult for me, it was clear that I had no future in Bulgaria. The opportunity arose to leave the country and I went to Belgium, where I studied economics, and in 1972 I went to Brazil. Soon after my arrival I went to Manaus for three months and I have been there for 46 years now."




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Rumen Statkov's Samodivi

Bulgarian artist Rumen Statkov in a new "Dance" with his audience

He is an artist as well as a philosopher. He likes to tell stories in colours, but also listen to them in melodies. He is Rumen Statkov and just a few days ago, on October 17, he presented his latest exhibition entitled "Dance" at the Nirvana gallery in..

published on 10/22/24 12:40 PM
Romain Gary (1914-1980)

Writer, diplomat and humanist - Romain Gary and the echo of his stay in post-war Bulgaria

A writer, a hero from the Second World War, an aviator, a journalist, a film director and a diplomat - the personality of Romain Gary (1914-1980) is multi-layered and enigmatic. And Bulgaria occupies a special place in the life and work of one of the..

published on 10/21/24 12:35 PM

Exhibition reveals rarely noticed places in Sofia

The "Invisible Sofia" cycle this year will end with the "Artisans of Sofia" exhibition, dedicated to movable cultural heritage. The exhibition will be opened today in the renovated Central Sofia Market Hall. "In 2025, we will..

published on 10/21/24 8:45 AM