Zheko Spiridonov

Born: 1867

Death: 1945

Biography:

Zheko Spiridonov is one of the founders of the art of sculpture in post-Liberation Bulgaria. He was a graduate of one of the major European cultural centres, initially sent by the Ministry of Enlightenment to be educated at the School of Ceramics in Bechyně, Czech Republic. Later, he studied sculpture at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts and graduated with a silver medal. Following the creation of the State School of Drawing in Sofia (today the National Academy of Art), he became one of its first lecturers and professors in sculpture. He was also its director on three occasions. Zheko Spiridonov created representative easel portraits executed in the spirit of the Munich academic school, produced a gallery of bust monuments in Sofia and Varna of National Revival enlighteners and revolutionaries, and carved the first nudes in Bulgarian sculpture in the neoclassical style typical of the 19th century.