My first Publication 1926874721_Alumni_Magazine_June_2010 | Page 19

Issue 3, June 2010
Petko Bocharov ’38:
Sights from Three Bulgarias
P etko Bocharov, often called the doyen of Bulgarian journalists, is our alumnus from the Class of 1938. After graduating from the College, he studied law
and started working as an English translator at the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), and later became the agency’s deputy editor-in-chief. On February
19, 2010 Mr. Bocharov celebrated his 91 st birthday. A day earlier, he presented his new book to journalists and friends at the Press Club of BTA. In “Sights
from Three Bulgarias” (original title – “Картини от три Българии”), published by Janet 45 Publishing House, Mr. Bocharov fascinates his audience by
combining his memoirs with “documentary pictures” of Bulgaria’s history during the three regimes his life passes through. We are pleased to present excerpts
from the chapter dedicated to the College.
…Drama performances and debates
had a special place within the extra-
curricular activities at the College. Two
associations staged plays at the school.
One of them was Развитие staging plays
in Bulgarian and the other one - Dramatic
Association – staged in English. It took
months to prepare a show, starting off
with auditions for the parts, choosing a
director and technical staff, every one
of those being a student, including the
scenographer, the lighting man, and the
costume designer. There was just one
advisor from the school administration.
He was expressing his opinion but did
not interfere with our decisions.
…In 1932 I was just a boy that was
supposed to get in a proper high school.
My brother was already studying at the
American College of Sofia and the
school had recently been moved from
the town of Samokov to the village
of Simeonovo near Sofia. My friends,
classmates, and I were very surprised to
find out that my father had decided to
enroll me in the College, as well. I was
surprised mainly because the tuition fee
was very high and there was my brother’s
tuition to take care of for another three
years. Adding six more tuition fees for
me amounted for an overwhelming sum
indeed. But my father’s mind was made
up and he had obviously decided he
could afford this. I had often thought
that had he not saved this money for
his sons’ education and bought a store
or two instead, I could now live off the
property’s rent and really take it easy. But
he was reasoning in a different way and
as a result I could become a journalist
just because of my command of the
English language.
Throughout the school year Dramatic
Association had two Saturdays at their
disposal to perform their plays. One
was designated for three one-act plays,
the other one – for one full-length play.
Only students in their third or fourth
year at the College could take part in the
one-act plays. Auditions were held early
in the fall. A main part in one of those
brought the actor three points; a smaller
part – one or two points. Only fifth-
and last-year students could participate
in the full-length play. The main part
in that one brought six points to the
actor. Becoming a member of Dramatic
required six points, as well. And it figures
how hard it was to actually gather those.
Needless to explain in detail what
popularity on the other side of “no
man’s land”¹ the one who got in Dramatic
enjoyed.
…A short while back I was up on
Vitosha, just above Simeonovo. Sofia
was lying down at my feet with its west
and north residential districts sunken
in haze, its downtown area boasting its
17
shiny Alexander Nevski Cathedral dome,
while the lined-up little boxes of the
Mladost and Drujba blocs stood out in
the distance. And in the middle of all this
- the green oasis of the College. Actually,
one could only see the roofs or part of
them as they were shadowed by the lush
heads of the trees. The old-time water
tower had disappeared amidst a ring of
exuberant pine-tree forest. The tall brick
chimney of the heating station was also
hidden in overgrowth.
And all of a sudden I was amused as I
realized that not one or two, but darn
many of those lush trees and dark-
green pines wouldn’t be there if I went
to a different high school. It was I, who
planted those trees with my own hands.
Why and how you may ask. I’ll tell you. I
planted them as part of my punishment.
Today’s impressive forest is the result
of the old-time system of punishing
student offence.²
…In 2010 the College celebrates its
150 th anniversary! There’s no capital
city that wouldn’t take pride in such a
pearl in its crown. …This school’s fame
should spread everywhere and Bulgaria’s
political leaders should take care of
that. Bulgaria can solely profit from the
international prestige of an international
school that has existed on our territory
for 150 years!
¹ part of school campus that separated the
girls’ from the boys’ buildings and where
no student was allowed to tread
² Petko Bocharov was punished for leaving
the school’s premises – the hardest offence
at the time, followed by smoking
Translated by Petia Ivanova ‘97, Editor