Georgi Mitov (Bulgarian: Георги Митов; 14 September 1875,

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora (, ) is a city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of Stara Zagora Province. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain, near the cities of Kazanlak, Plovdiv, and Sliven. Its population is 121,582 making it the sixth largest c ...

– 20 August 1900,

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

) was a Bulgarian painter.

Biography

When he was only two, Ottoman troops burned his hometown and massacred over 14,000 people, forcing his family to flee to

Svishtov Svishtov ( ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous S ...

. His childhood was marked by poverty and frequent illnesses. In 1889, he went to study in Plovdiv, then in

Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

. He later moved to

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...

where he took lessons from Petko Klisurov and his own older brother

Anton Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname), a list of people with the surname Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District, Panama **Antón, ...

. Shortly thereafter, he and a friend went to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, where they met up with other painters from their hometown region, proceeding to

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and studying with

Giacomo Grosso Giacomo Grosso (23 May 1860 in Cambiano - 14 January 1938 in Turin) was an Italian painter. Biography After spending his childhood at Glaveno seminary, Giacomo Grosso enrolled at the Accademia Albertina in Turin in 1873, thanks to a scholarship ...

at the

Accademia Albertina The Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti ("Albertina Academy of Fine Arts") is an institution of higher education in Turin, Italy History In the first half of the seventeenth century, there was a "University of Painters, Sculptors and Architects" ...

. While there, his paintings won several awards. In 1896, his mother became seriously ill and he returned to Bulgaria. He soon began painting landscapes in the vicinity of

Kazanlak Kazanlak ( , known as Seuthopolis () in ancient times, is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town in Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria. It is located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan Mountains, Balkan mo ...

. After only a few months, he went back to Turin. In 1897, he created a series of portraits and

nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and no ...

s, including the " Lucrezia Romana", which was the first popular Bulgarian painting in that genre. He graduated from the Academy with honors and was awarded a gold medal. At the end of 1898, he returned home in ill health. After spending the summer in Kazanlak, he sought a healthier climate and took a position as a drawing teacher at the

Aprilov National High School The Aprilov National High School (Национална Априловска гимназия) in Gabrovo is the first modern secular school in Bulgaria. It was opened on 2 January 1835, when Bulgaria was still part of the Ottoman Empire, with the ...

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( ) is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the Local government, administrative centre of Gabrovo Province.It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international ca ...

. There, he introduced the practice of painting plaster models. It soon became clear, however, that he was suffering from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. Despite this, he accepted a new teaching position in Plovdiv, but was virtually bedridden by the end of 1899. He died shortly after receiving notice that his portrait of had been accepted for the

Paris Exhibition Paris Exposition or Paris Exhibition can refer to * French Industrial Exposition of 1844 * Exposition des produits de l'industrie française, held intermittently from 1798 to 1849 * Exposition Universelle (1855), the Paris Exposition of 1855 * Expos ...

Other selected works

Портрет на художника Драган Данаилов, Георги Митов 1898.jpg, Portrait of
Dragan Danailov Georgi Mitov 02.jpg, Nude Female Figure, Lying Down Georgi Mitov 03.jpg, Lucrezia Romana Mitov-Italian.jpg, Portrait of an Italian Woman

Sources

* Dimiter Genchev, "Без Митови няма арт-елит", (Without the Mitovs, no Art Elite), in ''

Standart Standart may refer to: People * Frank W. Standart (1871–1941), American lawyer and politician * Joseph G. Standart (1834–1912), American hardware businessman in Detroit Other * an alternative translation of Штандартъ, the Russian n ...

'', 9 August 2013 * Bistra Rangelova, ''Българската живопис от 1878 до 1944'' (Bulgarian painting),

National Art Gallery (Bulgaria) The National Art Gallery (, ''Natsionalna hudozhestvena galeriya'') is Bulgaria's national gallery, and houses over 50,000 pieces of Bulgarian art. History It is located on Battenberg Square in the capital city of Sofia, occupying most of t ...

1980 * Marin Dobrev, ''Художниците на Стара Загора'' (The Artists of Stara Zagora), Дъга (2007)

External links

Biography and works
@ Художествена Галерия Стара Загора {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitov, Georgi 1875 births 1900 deaths 20th-century Bulgarian painters 20th-century Bulgarian male artists 19th-century Bulgarian painters 19th-century Bulgarian male artists 19th-century male artists People from Stara Zagora Bulgarian male painters