Iliya Nikolaev PETROV. Born on July 9, 1903 in Razgrad. He died on May 18, 1975 in Sofia. In 1926 he graduated in Painting at the Art Academy in Sofia, under Prof. Nikola Marinov. He won a competition and in 1926 went to Munich for specialization. Until 1928 he attended the private school of Heinrich Mann and learned from masters of world painting. Drawing teacher (1928 – 1940) in the 13th junior high school in the proletarian quarter “Yuchbunar”, Sofia. From 1940 he was a teacher, from 1946 – associate professor and from 1957 to 1968 – professor of painting at the Academy of Arts, Sofia; dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts (1957-1962) and rector (1965-1968) of the academy, and from 1972 he became an academician.
