Editing Georgi Markov (section)

== Writer and dissident ==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2024}}
Although not yet confirmed,<ref>Един старинар. Джордж Оруел, Шерлок Холмс, българският език и джендърите или Защо не желая да живея в ЕС? Страници из моя блог. С., 2019, с. 57–58. {{ISBN|978-619-239-159-1}}.</ref> Markov's first published work was considered to be "The Whiskey Record Holder", which was issued in the newspaper "Narodna kultura."<ref>Речник по нова българска литература 1878–1992. С., 1994, с. 217. {{ISBN|954-428-061-8}}.</ref> There are at least three versions as to when he debuted as an author:<ref>Чернев, Чавдар. Как се роди Георги Марков? Нов материал за библиографията на писателя // Библиотека, ХІV, 2007, № 5–6, с. 38–50.</ref>
* Slav Karaslavov's version (1972) claims that Markov debuts in the newspaper "Stershel" in 1952. In the same year, signed by B. Aprilov and G. Markov, the feuilleton "The Forest of Horrors" was published in the newspaper.<ref>Чернев, Чавдар. Как се роди Георги Марков? Нов материал за библиографията на писателя // Библиотека, ХІV, 2007, № 5–6, с. 38–50.</ref>
* Yordan Vasilev's version (1990) – according to him, Markov debuts in the newspaper "Narodna armia"<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-22|title=Вестник Българска Армия – За нас {{!}} Информационен център на Министерство на oтбраната|url=https://armymedia.bg/%d0%b2%d0%b5%d1%81%d1%82%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%ba-%d0%b1%d1%8a%d0%bb%d0%b3%d0%b0%d1%80%d1%81%d0%ba%d0%b0-%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%bc%d0%b8%d1%8f-%d0%b7%d0%b0-%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%81/|access-date=2021-08-04|language=bg-BG}}</ref> in 1951. Signed as "Georgi Markov", "The Whiskey Record Holder" (7 July 1951) and "Bolshevik" (12 December 1951) were published.<ref>Чернев, Чавдар. Как се роди Георги Марков? Нов материал за библиографията на писателя // Библиотека, ХІV, 2007, № 5–6, с. 38–50.</ref>

* Aleksander Kostov's version<ref>{{Cite web|title=Литературен свят » A » Александър Костов|url=https://literaturensviat.com/?p=81747|access-date=2021-08-04|language=bg-BG}}</ref> (1996) says that Markov debuts in the newspaper "Zemedelsko zname" in 1947. Signed as "G. Markov", many of his works, some of which are "Giordano Bruno" (19 February 1947) and "Heinrich Heine" (21 February 1947), were published.
 
In 1969, Markov left for [[Bologna]], Italy, where his brother lived. His initial idea was to wait until his status with the Bulgarian authorities improved, but he gradually changed his mind and decided to stay in the West, especially after September 1971 when the Bulgarian government refused to extend his passport. Markov moved to London, where he learned English and started working for the [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] section of the [[BBC World Service]] (1972). He tried to work for the film industry, hoping for help from Peter Uvaliev, but was unsuccessful. Later he also worked with [[Deutsche Welle]] and [[Radio Free Europe]]. In 1972, Markov's membership in the Union of Bulgarian Writers was suspended and he was sentenced ''in absentia'' to six years and six months in prison for his defection.

His works were withdrawn from [[Library|libraries]] and [[Bookselling|bookshops]] and his name was not mentioned by the official Bulgarian media until 1989. The Bulgarian Secret Service opened a file on Markov under the code name "Wanderer." In 1974, his play ''To Crawl Under the Rainbow'' was staged in London, while in Edinburgh the play ''Archangel Michael'', written in English, won first prize. The novel ''The Right Honourable Chimpanzee'', co-written with David Phillips, was published after his death. In 1975, Markov married [[Annabel Dilke]]. The couple had a daughter, Alexandra-Raina, born a year later.

Between 1975 and 1978, Markov worked on his ''In Absentia Reports'', an analysis of life in [[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Communist Bulgaria]]. They were broadcast weekly on [[Radio Free Europe]]. Their criticism of the Communist government and of the Party leader [[Todor Zhivkov]] made Markov, even more, an enemy of the regime.

{{quote|Today, we Bulgarians present a fine example of what it is to exist under a lid which we cannot lift and which we no longer believe someone else can lift... And the unending slogan which millions of loudspeakers blare out is that everyone is fighting for the happiness of others. Every word spoken under the lid constantly changes its meaning.  Lies and truths swap their values with the frequency of an alternating current...We have seen how personality vanishes, how individuality is destroyed, how the spiritual life of a whole people is corrupted to turn them into a listless flock of sheep. We have seen so many of those demonstrations which humiliate human dignity, where normal people are expected to applaud some paltry mediocrity who has proclaimed himself a demi-god and condescendingly waves to them from the heights of his police inviolability...<ref>{{cite book|author=Markov, Georgi|year=1984|title=The Truth That Killed|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=978-0-89919-296-3|page=prologue}}</ref>|Georgi Markov describing life under an [[authoritarian]] regime in ''The Truth that Killed''}}
In 1978, Markov was killed in London (see below), allegedly by an operative connected to the [[KGB]] and the Bulgarian secret police under Zhivkov. His ''In Absentia Reports'' were published in Bulgaria in 1990, after the end of the Communist government.

In 2000, Markov was posthumously awarded the [[Order of Stara Planina]], Bulgaria's most prestigious honour, for his "significant contribution to the Bulgarian literature, drama and non-fiction and for his exceptional civic position and confrontation to the Communist regime."