While the prominent Bulgarian writer, Prof. Nikolai Haitov, wrote, “Levski is the embodiment of the Bulgarian spirit in its purest form”, another Bulgarian patriot saw his 10-year-old dream come true this summer – a depiction of revolutionary Vasil Levski, known as Bulgaria’s Apostle of Freedom, carved by his own hands. He is the 94-year-old Georgi Milushev from the town of Smolyan in Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountain – a retired accountant, a self-taught artist and one of Bulgaria’s present-day spiritual leaders who seem to bind together the past, present and future.

Uncle Georgi, as the locals call him, is the initiator, designer and author of the bust of the Apostle at the Freedom Square in the old centre of Smolyan. This place is favoured for meetings by locals and tourists in the Rhodope town and the public garden already houses a monument to another Bulgarian National Revival prominent figure –Hristo Botev.

“Levski is the most revered, the most genuine hero, Bulgaria’s apostle, a fighter for freedom from Ottoman rule. This is how the idea for this monument was born”, Milushev told the Bulgarian National Radio. “I started bit by bit, because I am self-taught and I have never done sculptures before. To tell you the truth – it was not an easy task, because I have no knowledge of anatomy the way professionals do. With a lot of courage and perseverance I managed to complete it in 4 years.”

The venture was financed entirely from private funds. Georgi set aside 50 leva from his retirement pension every month for 4-5 years to make the monument. He had to remodel it several times - all by himself, in the warmer months of the year, in the garden of his house under a shed. When the project was completed, it passed for approval through a special committee composed of three artists.

“I bow to his age, perseverance and everything he did to make this project possible. His enthusiasm should serve as an example of what a person must become during their lifetime”, says his son-in-law Kiril Assenov – one of the largest industrialists and employers in the region.

The High School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in the town of Smolyan bears the name of the Apostle of Freedom and until this summer housed the only monument to Vasil Levski in front of its building.

“I have been almost everywhere in Europe and I know how important such monuments are to a nation. They (the other nations) build monuments for the most trivial of things so that they could leave a trail, a mark on history. Smolyan doesn’t have that. It just doesn’t!” laments Georgi who has almost completed his second monumental project – a bust of another Bulgarian National Revival leader and revolutionary – Georgi Rakovski.

Despite his advanced age, Georgi Milushev continues to read a couple of books a week. He likes historical novels and biographies, which inspire his work on monuments. He built his house all by himself and in the 1960s he even designed and assembled his own car, which was a source of family pride and a real attraction for his fellow citizens. He called the car RosVen after his two daughters – Rossitsa and Venera. Today, Uncle Georgi admits that one of the greatest treasures in life is to have a job, because it is the engine of life. It pains him that there is no eagerness for common causes in Bulgarian society, as it once was.

“The most important thing, as we say here in the Rhodope Mountains, is to have harmony between people, to have kindness and respect for one another. We have become very selfish, we only think about ourselves and our financial benefits. Nothing spiritual binds us anymore. I watch and read newspapers and I am astonished at the ignorance around me. Students are illiterate, they do not know basic things. If a government closes down its schools, hospitals and theatres, then it is of no use. If you lose your spirit, your culture, your customs, then you are lost as a nation. These are the things that make people a nation!”

Compiled by Vessela Krasteva (based on an interview of Radostina Chernokorova, BNR correspondent in Smolyan)

English version Milena Kazakova