This year, 145 years of diplomatic relations between France and Bulgaria, and the centenary of the French Institute in Sofia, are being celebrated. To mark the occasion, they are holding a series of events and film screenings 21-25 October dedicated to the writer Romain Gary who began his diplomatic career in Sofia, accompanied by his first wife, the journalist and historian, Lesley Blanch. His stay in the Bulgarian capital, where he was a perceptive observer of Soviet totalitarianism, was marked by close surveillance by the intelligence services. His account of this period, recounted in La nuit sera calme, is a source of historical insight into the transformations of this Balkan country.
Lesley Blanch wrote in her memoirs On The Wilder Shores of Love: A Bohemian Life: “Many of the corps diplomatique found life in Sofia trying. Living conditions were harsh; there was no entertainment except bridge or scandal. But neither Romain nor I longed forworldly diversions. He was absorbed in his day-to-day work at the Legation, providing reports of the political situation both in Bulgaria and in the surrounding countries. I was told later these reports were outstandingly brilliant. He was particularly suited for this type of work; his eye was both shrewd and sympathetic to many problems which the West could only see subjectively as a possible threat to themselves.
“While he was so employed, I had acquired some rudimentary knowledge of Bulgarian and made long adventurous sorties about the country, discovering its lovely ancient monasteries and painted churches, its remote villages and strange sects such as the Moslem Pomaks of the little-known Karakachans. And then there were the Tziganes in their mahallas; irresistible company to me.”
On Monday 21 October at 6pm, Lesley Blanch’s literary executor and goddaughter, Georgia de Chamberet, will be interviewed by Luc Lévy, Counsellor for Cooperation & Director of the French Institute in Sofia, on the theme of “Bridging East and West: Lesley Blanch at the heart of the Slavic and Balkan worlds”.
Lesley Blanch wrote in her memoirs On The Wilder Shores of Love: A Bohemian Life: “I do not know why I had always longed to go to Bulgaria, or why I had a preference for that country over Serbia or Romania, but so it was. Perhaps some sixth sense told me I would spend some of the happiest days of my life there. In any case Bulgaria spoke to me long before I knew it and ever since I lived there a glowing love for it has remained.”
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