Nikola Marinov

Who was Nikola Marinov?

Nikola Marinov Abadzhiev was a Bulgarian painter and teacher.

Marinov was born in the town of Targovishte in 1879. His interest in painting began in the high school. After that he continued his education in Albertina Academy of Fine Arts in Turin, Italy where some of his teachers were Andrea Tavernier and Giacomo Grosso. He graduated in 1903 and has stayed to paint in Itally for two more years.

After the returning in Bulgaria in 1906 he consecutively worked as a teacher in Sofia until 1919 and with the Ministry of Education and Science. Between 1921 and 1940 he was a professor in the National Academy of Arts, Sofia where he served as Chancellor in the period 1935-1937. Among his students were some of the eminent Bulgarian artists such as: Ilia Beshkov and Ivan Nenov.

He worked mostly in the art of painting as he had preference for water-color. Marinov has also done a great number of frescoes in churches in Plovdiv, Lovech, Biala Cherkva, Pernik and Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia.

The town art gallery in Targovishte is named after him in his honour and many of his works are exhibited there. As well there is a high school in the town named Nikola Marinov.