Ruska Mihaylova Manuilova (, 1879 – 11 April 1949) or better known as her stage name Roza Popova (), was a Bulgarian actress and

theater director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and the wife of the Bulgarian writer Chicho Stoyan.

Biography

Early life and debut

Roza Popova was born in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in 1879. She married in secret a little past her 16th birthday. She studied theatrical arts under the direction of Konstantin Sapunov. During her high school education, she found her passion of acting and joined the traveling theatrical troupe "Zora". In 1897, Roza Popova makes her debut with her role of Sophia in "Iskreno Priyatelstvo" by Sardu in

Veliko 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 ...

, the old capital of Bulgaria. However, official records state that her first major role and debut was in the play by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

– Lucrezia Borgia (play) in the role of Lucrezia, with the collaboration of the most successful Bulgarian troupe – "Salza i Smyah". She then proceeded to play in the troupe alongside her husband, leading the troupe herself between 1900 and 1902. Afterward, she joined the

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n troupe of M. Stoikovich.

Middle years

In 1900 she was stalked by her admirer Todor Bogdanov, who was her teacher from

Vratsa Vratsa ( ) is the largest city in northwestern Bulgaria and the administrative and economic centre of the municipality of Vratsa and Vratsa district. It is about north of Sofia, southeast of Montana. Situated at the foot of the Vrachanski Bal ...

. On January 20, 1903, he shot her and himself, and died. She regained her strength despite the bad wound. She was also released from the service of the theater in the same year. In the period between 1904 and 1906, she joined the troupe in

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 ...

. The next town she went to was

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where she studied literature and medicine in the

Vienna University The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. During 1910 she was appointed as the first director in the Ruse theater. In 1918 she founded her own theater "Roza Popova".

Theatre roles

Major theatre roles in which Roza Popova acted: * Antigone – ''

Antigone ANTIGONE (Algorithms for coNTinuous / Integer Global Optimization of Nonlinear Equations), is a deterministic global optimization solver for general Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programs (MINLP). History ANTIGONE is an evolution of GloMIQO, a global ...

'' by

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

* Medea – ''Medea: A Tragedy in Three Acts'' by

Ernest Legouvé Gabriel Jean Baptiste Ernest Wilfrid Legouvé (; 14 February 180714 March 1903) was a French dramatist. Biography Son of the poet Gabriel-Marie Legouvé (1764–1812), he was born in Paris. His mother died in 1810, and almost immediately aft ...

* Vela and Malama – ''Vampire'' by Anton Strashimirov * Margarita Gauthier – ''

The Lady of the Camellias ''The Lady of the Camellias'' (), sometimes called ''Camille'' in English, is a novel by Alexandre Dumas fils, Alexandre Dumas ''fils''. First published in 1848 and subsequently Theatrical adaptation, adapted by Dumas for the Drama, stage, the pl ...

'' by

Alexandre Dumas fils Alexandre Dumas (; 27 July 1824 – 27 November 1895) was a French author and playwright, best known for the romantic novel '' La Dame aux Camélias'' (''The Lady of the Camellias'', usually titled '' Camille'' in English-language versions), p ...

* Sappho – ''Sappho'' by

Franz Grillparzer Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He ...

* Sonya and Elena Andreevna – ''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897, and first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre, directed by Konstan ...

'' by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

In 1926, Teodor Trayanov devoted a poem "Skitnishki napev" to her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popova, Roza 1879 births 1949 deaths Bulgarian stage actresses 20th-century Bulgarian actresses Bulgarian women theatre directors Actresses from Sofia