With thanks to John Daniel for finding this poet for us
In 1912, Geo studied philosophy at Sofia University, before continuing his education at Leipzig University in Germany, where he took up poetry inspired by German expressionism. His first selection of poems were published in a Bulgarian magazine in December 1913.
When the First World War began in July 1914, Bulgaria stayed neutral and Geo moved to London, UK to develop his poetry and improve his English. Geo returned to Leipzig on 18th October 1914, but was detained in Hamburg on suspicion of being a British spy. He was released after 11 days due to lack of evidence.
In August 1915, Geo returned to Bulgaria, who entered the First World War with the Central Powers on 14th October 1915. Geo's father was soon mobilized, forcing Geo to take over the family's book store, where he continued to publish his own poetry.
In March 1916 Geo was mobilized into the Bulgarian 34th Trojan Regiment. Following training at an officer school, he was sent to the frontlines of the Macedonian Front at Lake Doiran, opposing British forces. Due to his extensive language skills, he was used as an interpreter, translator and counter-intelligence officer, translating intercepted British and French radio messages.
On 29th April 1917, during the Second Battle of Doiran, Geo's position was subjected to heavy British artillery fire. He was severely wounded in the head, losing his right eye.
In February 1918, Geo went to Berlin to have his eye socket operated on, where he underwent 15 operations and received an artificial glass eye. Geo immersed himself in the cultural and literary life of Berlin, joining a circle of expressionist poets. Geo was in Berlin when the war ended in November 1918.
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| Geo Milev Self Portrait 1918 |
Geo returned to Bulgaria in 1919. In Sofia, he founded a magazine, Vezni, (Tr Scales), in which he published symbolist and expressionist Bulgarian poets and translations of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde. Vezni was not to last. It ceased publication in 1922, but soon afterwards Geo began working on a new project - the literary magazine Plamak, or Flame.
Bulgaria was in the midst of a national catastrophe. A defeated nation in the Great War, it had lost some of its population and territory. The economy struggled and there were hundreds of thousands of destitute refugees. The government of the populist Agrarian Party put considerable effort into reconstruction, but its methods were often brutal, dictatorial, and anti-intellectual. Nationalism was riding high, and so were Communism and mysticism.
In June 1923, a bloody military coup overthrew the Agrarian Party. In September of that year, Agrarians and Communists staged a mutiny, which was later called the September 1923 Uprising and was instigated by the USSR, its first attempt to export revolution to Europe. The Bulgarian government repressed the mutiny with a brutality that spawned a clandestine and violent Communist opposition. In the years that followed, Bulgaria was on the verge of a civil war. Political assassinations followed one after another, inciting bloody repercussions from the government. Tensions peaked in 1925. On 16th April, Communist terrorists blew up the St Nedelya Church in Sofia while it was packed with people. 134 people lost their lives in the blast, and hundreds were wounded. The police reciprocated with mass arrests of leftists. Geo was one of those.
A year previously, he had published his best known poem, Septemvri, or September. Inspired by the revolt of 1923, it masterfully uses rhythm and expressive imagery to recreate the hopes of the rebels and the tragedy of their failure.
The government was not sympathetic. After the poem was published in Plamak, the whole print run of the magazine was confiscated. In early 1925, Geo Milev was charged with violating the Law for the Defence of the State. He was arrested, but then released on bail.
In the wake of the St Nedelya terror attack things deteriorated. On 14 May, Geo Milev appeared in court and defended himself on the basis of freedom of artistic expression. He was found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison and a heavy fine. He appealed.
In the early morning of 15th May 1925, a police agent appeared at Milev's home. The poet was needed in the police station for a "talk," he said. Geo Milev complied. He was never seen again.
On 24th January 1954, a mass grave was discovered on the outskirts of Sofia. One of the skulls still had a glass eye in its right socket. Apparently, these were the remains of Geo Milev. An examination of the bones showed that the poet was strangled, probably with a wire.
By that time, Geo Milev was already one of Communism's stars. The regime might not have been much into avantgarde poetry but Milev's leftwing ideas and the manner of his death clearly made him fit for the position of a martyr in the Communist pantheon.
You can find some of Geo Milev's poems on the following websites:
https://thehighwindowpress.com/2021/03/28/geo-milev-the-icons-are-sleeping-translated-by-tom-phillips/
https://fortnightlyreview.co.uk/2023/04/milev-prose-poems/
https://allpoetry.com/Geo-Milev
https://www.poemhunter.com/geo-milev/
https://www.vagabond.bg/travel/high-beam/item/4443-who-was-geo-milev
