49 lines
2.5 KiB
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49 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
**Ivan Tsvetkov Balev** was a [doctor](Healthcare "wikilink") and
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[anarchist](Anarchism "wikilink").
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## Life
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Born into a family of [peasants](peasants "wikilink") in
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[Bulgaria](Bulgaria "wikilink"), he would often help sheperd animals and
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often read books on his families farm. He became an anarchist as a
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teenager and tried to study to become a teacher but was expelled for his
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anarchist beliefs, before eventually becoming a doctor. He got married
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in 1925 and had two daughters, moving to Vienna in 1927 to study
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medicine. He helped establish cooperatives in
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[Austria](Austria "wikilink") and [France](France "wikilink"), and used
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his own passport to smuggle three persecuted anarchists out of Bulgaria.
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He befriended [Nestor Makhno](Nestor_Makhno "wikilink") and suggested he
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move to Bulgaria for his health. But Makhno declined due to the many
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exiled White veterans from the [Russian Civil
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War](Russian_Civil_War "wikilink") in Bulgaria. He then returned to
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Bulgaria and became a specialist in urology and radiology, and created
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an anarchist doctors union. He wanted to fight in the [Spanish Civil
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War](Spanish_Civil_War "wikilink") with the
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[CNT](National_Confederation_of_Labour_\(Spain\) "wikilink") in 1936,
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but stayed in Bulgaria for his family, staying to give public speeches
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on anarchism that were popular with local workers and students.
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In 1939 he was arrested and conscripted into World War II as a combat
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medic, then jailed for three years, then conscripted again. Here he
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learnt how to speak English, French, German, Spanish and Turkish. He was
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also described as strong, fit and hardworking.
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After the war ended, he became a surgeon, orthopaedist (bone doctor) and
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was much admired by his patients for his kindness and care. He was next
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in line to be the First Surgeon of Bulgaria and assisted [Paraskev
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Stoyanov](Paraskev_Stoyanov "wikilink"). But in 1948 he was arrested by
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the Stalinist secret police and tortured for four months, and forced to
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work in a concentration camp. He was denied letters from his family and
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aids for his telling of anti-government jokes and refusal to teach new
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prisoners about the 'New Soviet Man' propaganda to prisoners. He was
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released in 1953, and worked in the urological ward at a hospital in
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Shumen for 24 years, returning to Sofia in 1976 and dying in 1981.<ref>
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` `[`Balev,`` ``Ivan`` ``Tsvetkov``
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``(1900-1981)`](https://libcom.org/history/balev-ivan-tsvetkov-1900-1981)` - libcom.org`
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` `</ref>
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## References
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<references /> |