The Burning Paths to the Future

The publication of The Burning Paths to the Future by Benjamin Varon marks the 60th anniversary of the writing of the historic letter of 1 June 1960 by Kufardjiev's Group of Seven.

The Book

The book The Burning Paths to the Future, published in memoriam, is a collection of selected works from two earlier books, Paths (1999, 2000, 2001) and Capitalism – Antagonist of Humankind (2004). It comprises Varon's most significant and emblematic theoretical writings. His intellectual and philosophical insights recall the tradition of Bulgarian and foreign Marxist thought.

The book contains the core of the intellectual legacy bequeathed by Benjamin Varon: a Renaissance mind, an economist, scholar and philosopher whose perceptive articles and studies abound in brilliant heuristic insights.

The publication was a collaboration between Zakhari Stoyanov Publishing House and Raymonda Varon-Mateeva, daughter of the remarkable thinker.

Cover of The Burning Paths to the Future

In his own words

“I have a thousand reasons to detest the brutality of real socialism, but I cannot think of a single one that puts an equality sign between the villains, the distortions, the crimes, and socialism.”

Benjamin Varon

What was written about him

“I fought for my ideas as best as I could, first under fascism and then under totalitarianism.” Varon is still fighting dramatically and intensely for his ideas. His questions are equally disagreeable to left and right politicians alike.

Sega Newspaper, 1999

Varon's ideas are radical but the clarity and simplicity with which they are expressed make them very impressive, even heuristic.

Yuri Borisov, Duma Newspaper

About Benjamin Varon

Benjamin Varon (1924–2020) was born in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Still under age, he joined the antifascist resistance, was arrested and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. When the Second World War was over, he studied law and went on to work on a doctorate in Economics. In 1952 he firmly refused to bring his thesis into line with Stalin's theses.

In March 1961, in the wake of the letter to the Central Committee, he was dismissed from his position of Chair of Political Economy at the Higher Institute of Economics in Svishtov and, along with his family, interned permanently to a remote village in Northeastern Bulgaria. He was reinstated only as late as December 1989.

His life

The letter of 1 June 1960

“Eight years prior to the Prague Spring, a group of several courageous men loyal to the socialist idea rang the alarm bell of truth. Even though they paid a heavy price for their courage, they helped the intelligent and the pure-hearted to wake up. Theirs was not just a feat, it was a prophecy. That engine crushed them but failed to destroy their words.”

Stefan Prodev

Read the letter in full

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