This morning, the Bulgarian theatre and cinema bid farewell to the iconic actress Stoyanka Mutafova who passed away at the age of 97. She was under hospital treatment in recent weeks after having gallbladder problems that required surgery.

A little-known detail from her biography is that the actress's real name was Stoyana, but after it was spelt wrongly on a theatre poster a long time ago, she became known to the public as Stoyanka. With her outstanding talent, sense of humor and inexhaustible energy, Stoyanka Mutafova entered the hearts of generations of Bulgarians. Reuters once called her “The Queen of Bulgarian Comedy”. Shortly before she turned 95, Stoyanka Mutafova was a candidate for the Guinness World Record in the category of "Oldest Active Professional Theatre Actor".

When asked about the source of her boundless vigour, she used to say: “This is how I was born. I never purposefully strove to be energetic. Being energetic is one of the things that one is not really aware of. You let things take their own course, inspire you, teach you without making plans in advance." And when asked when she was planning to withdraw from the stage, she used to reply that she would stop acting "when the ants begin to cut their hair and the pigs begin the fly.”

Born on February 2, 1922, the iconic actress graduated in classical philology from Sofia University Kliment Ohridski and then she studied at the State Theatre School at the Ivan Vazov National Theatre in Sofia and the Theatre Department of the Academy of Arts in Prague. From 1946 to 1949 she worked in a theatre in Prague. She returned to Bulgaria where her professional debut was on the stage of the National Theater. Over the impressive several decades of her acting career, she played more than 100 theatrical roles. She also starred in some of the most emblematic Bulgarian films, such as Spezialist po vsichko (Jack of All Trades), Lyubimets 13 (Favourite 13), Toplo (Warm), and more. She had countless performances on the estrada stage in Bulgaria and around the world. She was one of the founders of one of the most popular Bulgarian theatres – the Theatre of Satire in Sofia.

A deep bow to the memory of the great Stoyanka Mutafova - one of the symbols of Bulgarian theatre and cinema!