Emil Vidlichki

Emil Vidlichki (pseudonym of Emil Iliev Stefanov ) is a Bulgarian poet , writer and lawyer.
==Biography==
==== Early Life ====
He was born on January 1, 1921 in the town of Montana, Bulgaria, in the home of Iliya Stefanov and Todorka Parvanova.
His grandfather, Stefan Nikolov, was a volunteer awarded the Order of Courage from the Serbo-Bulgarian War and later mayor of the town of Ferdinand in the period 1897 – 1899, where he was the founder of the fire brigade, church building and more.
His father, Iliya Stefanov, was a reserve lieutenant in the World War I and was awarded the Order of Courage. He graduated in law in Switzerland and worked as a judge, prosecutor, and lawyer. He was also owner and editor of the local newspaper Lach, covering events in the city and the country.
Emil’s family moved to Lom, where he became friends with Viktor Raichev, later a conductor and composer. Here is also where Emil developed his love for theater and musicals, participating at an early age in school theater productions. At the age of 12 he settled in Sofia to study at the German boarding school "Deutsche Schule".
After high school he became a law student at the School of Law at Sofia University. The final year of his studies was abroad on the Humboldt scholarship. He studied in Freiburg, Breisgau, Germany, where he pursued a doctorate in law. He was recalled by a mandatory wartime draft to Bulgaria a few days before September 9, 1944.
==== Trouble with the Communist Regime ====
On September 9, 1944, a coup forcibly replaced the Bulgarian government and established the People's Republic of Bulgaria. On September 10, 1944, Emil was arrested along with his father by the police on suspicion of being a sympathizer of the old regime. His father, Iliya Stefanov, would be executed without trial on October 5, 1944. Emil, and the Stefanov family, would be told initially that Iliya was deported, and later he would be declared missing. The fate of Iliya Stefanova was only revealed after the fall of the Communist regime in Bulgaria in 1989.
Emil’s trouble with the new regime continued and he was denied the right to practice his chosen profession, law. He was allowed to work as a legal consultant, which he did, helping to develop the industrial capacity of Bulgaria working with: Elprom, Electra, Vasil Kolarov High-Current Plant, Vitosha Industrial Complex, Television and Radio Services.
His trouble with the government however was not over, and in 1968, together with a number of other Bulgarian intellectuals, he was deported from Sofia for two years under the guise of having told an inappropriate joke. He was allowed to return after 2 years. 
==== Retirement and Later Life ====
Emil retired and devoted himself to his writing and creative works. After 1989, he settled with his wife in the United States with his two daughters. He became a naturalized American citizen in 2005 and then wrote his autobiographical book "The Caresses of the Fates", in which he conveys events from his own life, memories of the life in theater, commemorations of the composers, directors, artists, and ballet dancers with which he worked, and a tribute to the fans of the musical genre in Bulgaria.
In 2006, at the publishing of Emil’s memoirs, the Musical Theater in Sofia honored Emil Vidlicki’s work with an event on the Grand Stage of the State Musical Theater. The event commemorated Emil’s lifelong contributions to the operetta genre. Presenters at the event included: the author Emil Vidlichki, the publisher Vasil Stanilov, the director of the musical theater Prof. Zarko Donev, the literary critic Konstantin Karapetrov, the organizer A. Aronov, and artists from the theater, who present excerpts from favorite operettas for the large audience. Emil Vidlichki was nicknamed the Maestro of the operetta-stage genre and received the Golden Lyre Award from the Union of Bulgarian Music and Dance Artists.
He died on August 10, 2011 in the United States .
==== Artistic Works ====
Throughout his life Emil devoted much of his passion, time, and late nights to his love of the musical. Being fluent in the German language both from his years spent at German boarding school in Sofia and from this time in Freiburg, Emil translated many musicals from German to Bulgarian. His translation included adaptations and changes to make the musical suitable for the Bulgarian stage. The following musicals were performed at the DMT "Stefan Makedonski" in the period 1981-1987:
* "Ball in Savoy" by Pal Abraham
* "One Night in Venice" verses with music by J. Strauss
* "Fraskita" by Fr. Lehar
* "Marriage Trap" - Telemann
* "The Unforgiven Night" - Pal Dond
* "The Wizard of Oz (1902 musical)" - Arlen
* "Bayaderka" - Imre Kalman, played on the stage in Veliko Tarnovo.
He also translated the musical "Julius Caesar" by Handel which was performed at the Opera House in Ruse.
His work was also performed on the stage of the Konstantin Kisimov Theater in Veliko Tarnovo:
* "My Friend Bunbury" - Gerd Naczynski;
* "Miss Mom" ​​- John Seeberg;
* "Cheerful weekend";
* "A friend of the family"
But Emil also loved the Bulgarian language and wrote four manuscripts with music composed by his childhood friend, now a composer, Viktor Raichev:
* "The Youth of the Maestro" - music by Victor Raichev, (Dedicated to Maestro Georgi Atanasov) - 1957, 1958, held over 110 performances on the stage of the State Musical Theater "Stefan Makedonski" (DMT)
* "Women's Ball" - music by Victor Raichev, 1959, 1960 (DMT)
* "The Lucky One" - music by Viktor Raichev, dedicated to the life of Aleko Konstantinov, 1964 (DMT) also played over 100 performances.
* Hashes - music by Victor Raichev, 1985 (DMT); The libretto based on Vazov's works: the story "Unkind-Undeserving" and the drama "Hash" as well as a number of poems by the folk poet.
* After the birth of his first daughter, Emil became increasingly interested in creating works for children. He wrote four original children’s musicals:
* "The Fairytale Dream" - staged in Rostock (1960), Markonoikirchen (1965), Germany and received a gold medal and a laureate award in Georgia, staged in Moscow (1958, 1970) Sochi (1964) and Stavropol (1964). It is broadcast on Moscow television as text and photos are published in Ogonyok magazine - music by Ilia Iliev;
* "The Curved Path" - with music by Dimitar Petkov;
* "The Good Heart" - with music by Parashkev Hadjiev (1951);
* "The Golden Girl" - written for the community center in Kozloduy, with music by Dimitar Valchev (1987).
He authored four books for children filled with poems for little minds:
* Book "Veselushka", with illustrations by the cartoonist Radoslav Marinov-REME, 1957, ed. "People's Youth";
* Book "Fer, fer Kalinke" 1963, ed. "People's Youth", artist Mira Yovcheva
* "Wrist" - a collection of poems for children, published by "Narodna Mladezh", 1956
* "Poetic Circle, Autumn, Winter", Veliko Tarnovo (Abagar newspaper) - poems for children.
Category:Bulgarian poets
Category:Bulgarian writers
Category:Bulgarian lawyers
Category:1921 births