Ivan Markvichka (Jan Václav Mrkvička) (1856 - 1938)

Ivan Markvichka is an artist, pedagogue and public figure of Czech origin who has found his true realization and recognition in Bulgaria. He was born in the village of Vidim at Duba, the Austrian empire on April 23, 1856. He studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts and at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. At the invitation of the Eastern Rumelia Government in 1881 he came to Bulgaria. He was appointed as a teacher in Plovdiv, in the high school "St. St. Cyril and Methodius" (the Yellow School), and later at the "Alexander I" High School. In 1896, Markvichka together with Konstantin Velichkov and Anton Mitov founded the State Painting School (now National Art Academy) in Sofia and became its director. Markvichka participated in the development of almost all the picturesque genres - a rural village genre, portrait, historical, landscaping, still life. Together with Anton Mitov he participated in the mural painting of the "Nevski" monument in Sofia. In 1894, Markvichka illustrated the first edition of the novel 'Under the Yoke' by Ivan Vazov. Together with archeologist and numismatist Vaclav Dobrusky, they were the authors of the then Bulgarian coat of arms. In 1918 he was elected as a member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He died in Prague on May 16, 1938 (Source: bg.wikipedia.org)