Archive Funds

Krastyo Mirski

He was born on January 29, 1920 in Sofia. He received his elementary and secondary education in his hometown. In 1938, he left for Paris to pursue law, but instead of preparing for law, Mirski took the exams at the state-subsidized theater school in the French capital, which first admitted 400 applicants. At the same time, he attended dramatic courses run by the famous French actor and director Louis Jouvet. From France, where she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Acting, Mirski, looking for ways to continue his studies, ended up in Munich and enrolled in the two-year theater school there, as well as at the University of Munich. The next step in his education is Vienna - Mirski attends the seminar of the famous director Max Reinhardt there. Finally Mirski resided in Cologne, where, after successfully defending his dissertation on "The Beginnings of the Bulgarian Theater until the formation of the first Bulgarian professional troupe (1841-1883)", the University of Cologne awarded him the title of "Doctor".

So, in 1943, Mirski returned to Bulgaria as the first Bulgarian theater master with a university degree in theater. The diplomas he has acquired indicate that he is a specialist in both acting, directing and theater. He began his directing career at the Bulgarian National Theater, and his teaching activities at the State Theater School "Krastyo Sarafov".

The successful career of the famous Bulgarian director, theater therapist and educator was interrupted too soon after his untimely death on August 4, 1978.



The Archive of Prof. Mirsky was donated to the University Archive the end of 2008 by his niece Mrs. Svetlana Mirska and her son Mr. Jordan Stoichkov.
The Biographical Documents section include diplomas for completed theater education in Paris, Vienna, Munich and Cologne. It includes Mirski’s autobiographies, membership cards, personal forms (membership of the Union of Artists in Bulgaria), etc.

The most numerous are the documents from his creative, professional and social activities. Of particular interest and value to the researchers are the "files" of his productions ("Masters" by R. Stoyanov, "The Profession of Mrs. Warren" by B. Shaw, "Hash" by Yves Vazov (the three productions), "The daughter-in-law" by G. Karaslavov, "Love" by O. Vasilev, "Auditor" by Gogol, "Don Carlos" by Schiller, "Doll House" ("Nora" ) by H. Ibsen, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by W. Shakespeare, "Uncle Vanyo" by Chekhov, "Third Pathetic" by N. Pogodin, "Candida" by B. Shaw, "Birthday" by Dr. Asenov, "Under the Yoke" by Ivan Vazov, etc.). Undoubtedly, the strongest emphasis, not only here but in the fund as a whole, is the lectures on acting and reading during the 1977-1978 academic year of the freshmen of the State Theater School "Krastyo Sarafov".

Prof. Mirski's archive also contains extensive correspondence, most of which is personal.

The illustrations in the fund include photographs of Prof. Krastyo Mirksi, cards, sketches, drawings.