Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

A novel by Ilko Minev is a bestseller in Brazil

Photo: BTA/Personal archive

The novel "Onde estão as flores" ("As Flowers Go: Escape to Homeland Amazonia") by Bulgarian writer Ilko Minev ranked second in the list of best-selling books in Brazil for the period 20-26 March 2023, the website Ploshtadslaveikov reported. 

The novel's protagonist, Licco Hazan, is an elderly man born in Bulgaria who settles in Amazonia. The book recounts the little-known and intensely intriguing story of how 50,000 Bulgarian Jews were rescued from the gas chambers during Nazi domination of Europe, details the flow of Jewish immigrants to the country's sparsely populated northern Manaus region and advocates, without ideologizing, a world without war, the book's synopsis in the ranking states.

In a 2018 interview with Radio Bulgaria's Albena Bezovska, Ilko Minev tells how he ended up in Brazil: 'In 1969, something happened in my life that surprised me and turned me into a dissident. In fact, a very good friend of mine became a dissident and the State Security did not believe that I was not involved. It became difficult for me, it was clear that I had no future in Bulgaria. The opportunity arose to leave the country and I went to Belgium, where I studied economics, and in 1972 I went to Brazil. Soon after my arrival I went to Manaus for three months and I have been there for 46 years now."




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

"Don’t Close Your Eyes'' wins awards and gains popularity at international film festivals

The Bulgarian film ''Don’t Close Your Eyes'' has won five awards at the Christian Film Festival in the USA, BTA reported, citing the producers. It was awarded for Best Feature Film, Best Producer - Bogdan Darev, Best Actor - Alexander Kanev and Best..

published on 1/23/25 1:38 PM

BNR: from the beginning to now

On 25 January 2025, the Bulgarian National Radio will celebrate its 90th anniversary . The public broadcaster is organising a series of events to mark the occasion. A special programme today presents a multimedia project - a virtual exhibition,..

published on 1/22/25 7:40 AM

"Marine" - Bulgarian art on display in Tsaribrod

"Hello, my name is Marin Marinov, I am an artist and I am currently an assistant professor of fine art painting under Professor Kiril Bozhkov at the National Academy of Arts in Sofia. This is the starting point of a kaleidoscopic story that will take us,..

published on 1/17/25 12:44 PM