Mighty Bulgarians Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jules Pascin

Jules Pascin, was a renown Bulgarian artist, famous for his drawings of women, shown usually nude or partly dressed. He became a symbol of the Montparnasse artistic community when he moved to France in 1905. During WWI he emigrated to the United States and eventually became an American citizen. Later in his life, Pascin became addicted to alcohol and had problems with depression.

He suddenly died in 1930, most likely of suicide, at the age of 45.

Answer: Nina Dobrev

Her birth name is Nikolina Kamenova Dobreva. She was born in a Bulgarian family in Sofia. Later, they emigrated to Canada and they still live in Toronto, Ontario.
She started taking acting classes, but only after she learned dance and gymnastics. She starred as Mia on "Degrassi: The Next Generation" (2006) for three years before joining The CW's series, "The Vampire Diaries" in 2009.

Answer: Spartacus

Spartacus was one of the most renown Thracian gladiators, and one of the slave leaders in the Third Seville War, one of the biggest slave uprisings against the Roman Republic. Although he was not successful, in modern times, Spartacus became an icon for many people, including communists and socialists. Karl Marx described Spartacus as "the most splendid fellow in the whole of ancient history".

Answer: Philipp Kirkorov

Kirkorov was born in 1967 in the city of Varna, Bulgaria. His father, Bedros Kirkorov, is also a singer. Kirkorov was inspired by the famous Russian singer Alla Pugacheva. He finally met her for first time when he was 21 and she became his muse. The following year, Kirkorov, together with Pugacheva, performed in Australia and Germany.

His daughter, Alla-Victoria Filippovna Kirkorova, is named Alla-Victoria after Alla Pugacheva and Philip's mother, Victoria.

Answer: John Atanasoff

John Atanasoff invented the first electronic digital computer at Iowa State College. There was, however, a problem with receiving a patent on his invention. Finally, the challenges to his claim were resolved in 1973 when the court ruled that Atanasoff was the inventor of the first digital computer - more than 40 years after his initial invention.

Although he was born in New York, Atanasoff's father was of Bulgarian origin, born in the village of Boyadzhik, close to Yambol, Bulgaria. Atanasoff was warmly welcomed by the locals when he visited Bulgaria. He was given various titles by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Answer: Sylvie Vartan

Sylvie Vartan was born in Iskrets, Sofia Province, in what was the Kingdom of Bulgaria. She is known as one of the most talented yé-yé (a style of pop music) artists. She made many appearances on French and Italian television programs, and has more than 50 million records and CD's sold worldwide.

Answer: Christo Javacheff

Christo Javacheff, or better known simply as "Christo", together with his wife, Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon, were artists noted for their large landscape elements wrapped in fabric. An interesting fact about the couple is that they were born on the same day in Bulgaria and Morocco, respectively. Originally working under Christo's name, they later created the duo "Christo and Jeanne-Claude".

Sadly, Christo died at his home in New York City on May 31, 2020, at the age of 84. "L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped", was held in Paris in September 2021 in his memory.

Answer: Elias Canetti

Canetti's father and grandfather were successful merchants who owned a building, which they personally built in Ruse, Bulgaria, and from there they carried out their commercial activity. Canetti's mother descended from one of the oldest Jewish families in Bulgaria.

Canetti spent his childhood years in Bulgaria until he and his family moved to Manchester, England, where Canetti's father joined his wife's brothers in a family business. His father suddenly died in 1912 and Elias together with his mother and his siblings moved to Vienna.

Answer: Naim Süleymanoğlu

Süleymanoğlu was born in Bulgaria, but his family was Turkish. His short height (147 cm) and great strength earned him the nickname "Pocket Hercules". He was one of the greatest Olympic weightlifters of all time, as well as the best pound-for-pound weightlifter in the history of the Olympic games.

In the 1980s, Bulgaria's government implemented the Revival Process. This new law required ethnic minorities to adopt Slavic names and give up on their languages. As a result, Süleymanoğlu's name was forcibly changed to Naum Shalamanov.

In order for him to compete at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Bulgarian government had to agree to release his eligibility to Turkey. Prior to that Süleymanoğlu represented Bulgaria, but it was while he represented Turkey that he won three Olympic gold medals.

Answer: Rita Wilson

Wilson was born with the name Margarita Ibrahimoff in Hollywood, California. Her father, Hassan Ibrahimoff, was a Bulgarian Muslim who later emigrated to the USA.

According to Wilson's husband, Tom Hanks, Hassan Ibrahimoff is one of the most erudite people he has ever met. Hanks said he modeled his portrayal of the character Viktor Navorski in the film "The Terminal" on his father-in-law. Hank's wife, Rita, is a well known actress and producer, receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019.