Dimitr Polianov

(pen name of Dimitr Ivanov Popov). Born Dec. 4, 1876, in Karnobat; died Sept. 25, 1953, in Sofia. Bulgarian poet.

In 1892, Polianov joined one of the first Social Democratic organizations in Bulgaria. He began publishing in 1894. His revolutionary poems “Deposed Idols” and “The Birth of a Proletarian” launched the proletarian movement in Bulgarian literature. Polianov wrote the collection Sea Drops (1907) and defended revolutionary ideals and denounced the bourgeoisie in newspaper articles and poetry collected in Iron Verses (1921). He also edited the Bulgarian communist political and literary journals Chervensmiakh (Red Laughter, 1920–23) and Nakovalnia (The Anvil, 1925–33). His late poetry, published in such collections as White Dove (1951), celebrated peace, Bulgarian-Soviet friendship, and the victory of the working people. Polianov was awarded the Dimitrov Prize in 1950.