Dimiter Kirov, aka DiKiro, born on May 20, 1935, in Istanbul, Turkey, demised on October 22, 2008 in Sofia, Bulgaria, is one of the most distinguishable names of Bulgaria's fine art from the second half of the twentieth century.

In 1959 he graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia, as a member of the Monumental and Decorative Art class of Prof. Georgi Bogdanov. Kirov created an impressive volume of artistic work in the fields of painting, monumental art, including frescos, mosaic, sgraffitos. He has also experimented with ferro plastics, wood plastics, and ballet artistic arrangement.

DiKiro lived and worked in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in the Old Town, a fascinating venue of ancient history and modern art and a Unesco World Heritage site. Dimiter Kirov was married to ballerina and teacher Roussalia Antonova, whom he referred to as his lifetime Muse. Mrs. Kirova has been his inspirtation and active promoter for his artistic heritage.


DiKiro’s Awards:
196 7 The Award of Sofia
1967 The Big Award of Plovdiv
1970 I' Award for Fresco - In the Plovdiv Concert Hall
1972 I’ Award of The South Bulgarian Painters’ Society
1976 I’ Award of The South Bulgarian Painters’ Society
1981 I’ Award “Vladimir Dimitrov-Maystora” for the cycle “The Warriors Of Samuel”
1982 I' Award of the Sports Foundation, BSFS
1983 I’ Award for Portrait, Gabrovo, Bulgaria
1983 The Grand Zahari Zograf Award for Portrait, Bulgaria
1985 Second Award of The National Exhibition, Bulgaria
1986 The Grand Zlatyu Boyadghie Award of Bulgaria
1987 The Award of Pleven
1985 People's Artist of Bulgaria Honourable Title
1987 Listed in the 19th edition of German Brockhaus Enzyklopädie
          Joined the Nika-Kai Art Society, Japan as Honorary Member.
1997 Awarded the Legion D'Honour of France for Culture
2000 Honorary Citizen of Plovdiv
2000 Silver Medal of Pope John Paul II
2005 National Order “Saint Saints Cyril and Methodius”  of Bulgaria with a bracelet.

DiKiro’s works are in museums and private collections in Bulgaria and all around the world:
• National Gallery of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria
• State Galleries of Fine Arts in Plovdiv, Bourgas, Varna, Russe, Veliko Turnovo, Blagoevgrad, Dobritch, Samokov etc.
• Pushkin Museum, Moskow, Russia
• Ermitage Museum, Sankt Petersburg, Russia
• Erevan Museum, Armenia
• Tbilisi Museum, Georgia
• National Gallery, Dresden, Germany
• Czech National Gallery, Prague
• Sparbank Collection, Stokholm, Sweden
• Ish Bankasa Collection, Istanbul, Turkey
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Munich, Germany
• City-hall Collection, Visbaden, Germany
• Peter Ludvig Collection, Koln, Germany
• Collection of the Vatican
• City-hall Collection, Okayama, Japan
• Collection of The International Village Of Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan
• Collection of the Bulgarian Embassy in Tokyo, Japan
• Pina Collection, Pirea, Greece
• Collections of F. Mitteranne, Mario Scaresh etc.
• Private Collections in Bulgaria, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Germany,
Switzerland, Canada, USA, Mexico, Venezuela, Japan, Russia, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey etc.
• Museum of contemporary art - Fukuyama


Learn more about the life of the artist, his family, the struggle for preservation and years of a recognition in "DIKIRO: Soul of the creator is soldier lonely ", by Pavel Panta, 2006 - 2007 (in Bulgarian language). To order, please contact info at dikiro.eu