Anna Buxton: “Very often a person feels more Bulgarian when they are away from Bulgaria”

Historical maps of Bulgaria to be displayed in London on the occasion of Bulgaria’s national holiday March 3

On March 3, as part of events marking Bulgaria’s Liberation Day, the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in London will present an exhibition “Maps of Bulgaria.” The exhibition is a joint venture with the British Bulgarian Society. It will be presented by our compatriot Anna Buxton, a Social Secretary of the Society and also a researcher of Bulgarian history, translator and writer, wife of well-known writer and translator of Bulgarian literature Christopher Buxton. The British-Bulgarian Society  is an organization with over 60 years of history, established in 1952 at the suggestion of renowned historian in Byzantine studies, Professor Robert Browning, and over the years it was chaired by many prominent Bulgarian and British scientists. Since 1980, after moving to England, the Buxtons became members of the British-Bulgarian society whose main activity consists in organizing cultural events promoting Bulgaria and charitable activities in support of Bulgarian projects. This is not the first such exhibition in London initiated by this organization, explains Anna Buxton in an interview for Radio Bulgaria: 

“The first exhibition was held on the occasion of March 3, 2012. At that time, the British-Bulgarian society was able to obtain for temporary use graphics from the 19^th century magazine “The Illustrated London News”. They were on the topic of the Crimean War, but also illustrated military events during the Liberation War of 1876-1878 – scenes from the siege of Pleven to the Berlin Congress. Some of the later graphics were scenes of the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885, this exhibition was very successful and attended by many people. The current exhibition is entitled “Bulgaria’s borders over the centuries” – it includes maps from all periods of the history of Bulgaria, demonstrating the movement of its borders during the reign of various Bulgarian kings. This exhibition aims at reminding Bulgarians in the UK and more importantly the local population of the past greatness of this country and its rich culture and history.”

Anna Buxton is the author of a historical book based in the Bulgarian Middle Ages about the life of the daughter of Tsar Ivan-Alexander, Kera Tamara, and her marriage to Sultan Murad I, which looks into the rise of the Ottoman Empire and the fall of the Balkans under Ottoman rule.

“My interest in history comes from my family,” Anna explains. “I am the great-great granddaughter of Bulgarian rebel leader Valchan Voyvoda and I grew up amidst stories about him, legends, folk songs, some people are still seeking his fortune in various hills and mountains. During the long years when I worked in the British educational system, I needed an outlet and I was collecting historical materials with the desire to write a book about Bulgarian history, which would debunk the Communist version of history that we were taught in school. Thus my book Tamara Shishman and Murad  I came to life.”

By the end of March this year Anna Buxton will see the release of her second book entitled European Sultanas of the Ottoman Empire which includes the fates of two Bulgarian women. Despite the many positive comments she receives for her work, Anna sees also many challenges:

“Overall, the interest in Bulgarian history in the West is almost non-existent, Bulgarian history is almost unknown and we are trying to fix this in our work with my husband Christopher Buxton. He has worked for years for the promotion of Bulgarian culture through English translations of classical and contemporary Bulgarian literature and is currently preparing a collection of classic Bulgarian poetry in translation. We are grateful for the strong support of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in London, which is doing everything possible to fill this gap, as we are already starting to see some success.”

English version Rossitsa Petcova