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The French “Le Monde” following the unusual report of the mysterious “Agent Elena”
Known for packing monuments, the artist, who died in May, is the subject of a secret dossier circulating in his native land. In the 1980s, the communist regime sent one of its men on dirty orders to the teacher’s studio in New York, who had broken bridges with Sofia 30 years earlier.
Thus began the article in the newspaper Le Monde by French journalist Alexander Levy, entitled “Christo, the spy and the mysterious Bulgarian report.” It is dedicated to a little-known episode from the recent past, related to the interest of the Bulgarian secret services in Hristo Yavashev, who became world famous under the stage name Christo.
Levy recalls that Christo left Bulgaria in 1956 and did not see his homeland in New York until his death on May 31 of this year. But
scary
State Security
don’t lose sight of it,
displays a report that has recently appeared. “This is a report on Christo, signed by the mysterious” Agent Elena “and dated July 1984. The document has been circulating on the Internet in Bulgaria for some time, without its exact source being clear, nor has its authenticity been confirmed “. Le Monde writes.
By 1984 Christo was world famous, having just completed his monumental “surrounded islands” in Florida and preparing to fly to Paris to pack up the Pont Neuf bridge. State Security obviously wants to know what this rising art star hides and if it can harm the People’s Republic of Bulgaria in any way. Are you a dissident? Is your art the carrier of a subversive or anti-communist message? “Writes the author and points out that, contrary to expectations, agent Elena calms the fears of her superiors.
After dining with the artist and his wife Jean-Claude, she wrote: “He is a kind man, well-intentioned, modest and perhaps most of all anxious. It is very natural and does everything possible to make your interlocutor feel good. What makes the strongest impression on him is that “he wants everyone to be able to express their respect for the opinions of others, while at the same time remaining polite but showing some firmness.”
“It seems that the DS spy has completely succumbed to the charm of the married couple. She emphasizes that she has the “rare privilege” of being invited to visit her studio in Soho. There he found an old 4-story factory, without central heating or an elevator, furnished with everything he could find. And it surprises him that despite their fame, Christo and Jean-Claude don’t want to move to a “more comfortable place,” the article continues.
Elena then describes the economic situation of an artist very attached to his independence (the couple finances their projects by selling preparatory drawings), who manages a lot of money, but always runs out of money. The spy describes Christo’s appearance: surprisingly, she finds him “very proletarian”, and his way of expressing himself in Bulgarian (“It is difficult for him to find the right word, but the case is the same with all the languages he speaks”, sorry. immediately her “)”.
According to the article, Agent Elena skillfully emphasized several times that she was not very “objective” in her report, because for her the encounter was “very special, even sentimental.” She admits that she is not an art expert and cannot judge the quality of Christo’s work. That is why he quotes another Bulgarian artist exiled in New York and stresses that he is very grateful for his opinion. It describes a man completely dedicated to his art, working seven days a week and living like an ascetic. “According to Georgi Daskalov, Hristo has become one of the greatest visual artists in the world,” says the report. “Georgi said yes.”
surprised that he
not yet recognized
in Bulgaria “
What can I say about Hristo Yavashev in conclusion? I met a man with an unshakable faith in art, modest, tolerant and respectful of others. The contact with him is rich, you get the impression that you have met an extraordinary person ”, concludes the story of agent Elena. “But like every time a document appears from the DS archives, the reactions are very contrasting in a country that, 30 years after the fall of the Wall, has difficulties to put an end to its totalitarian past,” said the Le Monde journalist .
Some even wondered if the report was not an operation to manipulate and misinform State Security. A way to improve your image with Elena, who appeared out of nowhere, who, contrary to expectations, shows objectivity and empathy?
However, Ekaterina Boncheva, a member of the Files Commission, was summoned as confirming that the document was authentic. Le Monde recalls that Agent Elena’s report was shown to the public for the first time in 2016 during an exhibition dedicated to dissident Bulgarian artists. The exhibition’s commissioner, art historian Krassimir Iliev, says he found it largely by accident while investigating the files of the former political police. He is of the opinion that
Elena’s case is
special form of
resistance in
inside
of the repressive
system,
therefore, the censored works present this testimony. He complains that the document is often distributed on the Internet in short form.
The journalist Levy is trying to find out all he can about who Elena could be. From the original 5 yellow page document with the “top secret” stamp, he understands that it is part of the Second General Directorate (counterintelligence) and more precisely of the Sixth Department, which is in charge of intellectuals and the “ideological struggle.” Captain Stoyan Tenev is in charge of it.
The file reveals some details that suggest her identity: “In the introduction, the author of the report recalls that she is a very close friend of the family of Christo’s brother, Anani Yavashev, and that thanks to her mediation she managed to gain access to the artist who lives in New York. . Then he says that he knows the artist Georgi Daskalov (born 1923) from the “high school benches” – so he should be around his age. Finally, the last page contains some notes “reserved for the service”: it notes the future missions of the agent. The following sentence reads: “Continue to inform us about the situation of artists at the National Youth Theater.” It is remembered that his brother Anani Yavashev acted in this theater from 1958 until his retirement in the 1990s. Was the agent Elena his colleague?
The article also refers to the 1996 documentary “The Frontier of Our Dreams” by director Georgi Balabanov, which reflects the intertwined destinies of Anani, who has always lived in Bulgaria, and Christo, who became a citizen of the world. The movie shows how
through the apartment of
Anani and his wife
Dido passes it
all sofia
Bohemian
– directors, poets, artists of youth theater. Was Agent Elena among them? The question makes it difficult for the director: “The only one who could know is Anani. But I don’t advise you to call him. He’s very old, he’s sick … Do you realize what that would mean for him? You will question his youth, his friendships, his whole world.
The article recalls that the Yavashev brothers are the heirs of a family of talented industrialists, university professors and engineers. They were severely hit by the repression of the communist regime: their uncle, a Tsarist minister, was shot, their father jailed, and the family factory was nationalized.
Anani and her third brother, Stefan, are marked by the stigma of having a famous brother who “fled to the West.” However, they both managed to make a decent career, one as an actor and the other as a chemical engineer (invented by him in the 70s, dishwashing detergent revolutionized the lives of Bulgarian housewives). The French author emphasizes that Stefan is tireless in telling about his famous brother, with whom he remains in contact until the day of his death, but closes himself in his shell when the document of agent Elena is mentioned. According to Ivan Gospodinov, editor-in-chief of the daily Gabrovo 100 Vesti and a close friend of the family, Anani and Stefan know who Elena is, but will not reveal her name because it is a very painful subject for them. Thus, the identity of the DS agent remains a secret, points out the newspaper Le Monde.
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