Since its premiere in 1927, when the play was directed by another famous name, Nikolay Masalitinov, down to this day, Stefan Kostov’s character Golemanov is seen as more than a grotesque, but as an embodiment of all vices Bulgarian politicians have. Golemanov – “a simple teacher, risen to the top” as he himself puts it, is in fact quite the opposite of what the Bulgarian teachers of the 19^th century National Revival were; one such teacher was Krustyo Sarafov’s own father, Petar Sarafov. Born in 1842 in Gaitaninovo, at the time within the bounds of the Ottoman Empire, Petar Sarafov graduated in Serres and became a teacher. He created the first Bulgarian school in Serres and then made arrangements for the opening of a Bulgarian secondary school in Thessaloniki. After being vilified for his activities as a teacher and patriot, in 1885 he was sentenced to 16 years of exile in Asia Minor. Two years later he escaped via Istanbul and Odessa and then – to Sofia, where his family, with all of their nine children also arrived. One of these children was Krustyo, then 12, and his brother Boris, who went on to become voevod and leader of the Supreme Macedonian Edirne Committee and the Internal Revolutionary Organization of Macedonia and Edirne.

In Sofia Krustyo opened the only theatre house in the town, Zora (Dawn). Captivated by the plays in which his friends were performing, he decided to join in. His debut was in 1891, but his first role on stage made his parents very angry. To tear him away from the theatre, they sent him to Edirne to study. But when he graduated secondary school, he applied for a drama art scholarship abroad; out of the 60 people who applied 4 were approved. He won a scholarship for Paris, but his father dissuaded him and was in favour of the Russian capital; ultimately Krustyo Sarafov went to study in St. Petersburg. When he returned, he started as actor at the Sulza I Smyah (Tear and Laughter) theatre and went on to become co-founder of the traveling Free Theatre and of the National Theatre.

His colleagues say that Krustyo Sarafov prepared as meticulously for each play as if it were a first night. That it took him days and nights to learn all his lines, but that that wore him out, because he would say: “To my mind every word the actor utters must be as his own. It is no ordinary word, it must come from the heart.”

The Bulgarian National Radio Golden Fund audio archives have preserved the words pf actor Ivan Dimov about his colleague Krustyo Sarafov:

“To me, Krustyo Sarafov is more than an actor - an inspired teacher who has revealed to me the secrets of great drama. For 25 years I have been listening to his wise words and I can say they have affected me as an actor enormously. There is a legend that he found it hard to learn his parts. This may be true, but what is even truer is that to get to the smallest of details in a given character, Sarafov would talk about the character he was obsessed with everywhere – in the street, in the theatre. To my mind, besides a rare talent, Krustyo Sarafov is also an embodiment of dedication to his work. He loves his calling, like no other.”

In 1952, Bulgaria said farewell to one of the legends of Bulgarian theatre - Krustyo Sarafov. One year later the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia was named after him.

English version: Milena Daynova

This article features information taken from the Bulgarian National TV documentary “Krustyo Sarafov in front of the stage mask and behind it”.