Young Bulgarian Archaeologist Tsvetan Popinov Has Passed Away at 31

Young Bulgarian archaeologist Tsvetan Papinov, who passed away at the age of 31, is seen here during archaeological excavations in Plovdiv. Photo: Facebook profile

Young Bulgarian archaeologist Tsvetan Popinov has passed away at the age of 31 as a result of a household accident.

For the past four years, Tsvetan Popinov has been working with Assoc. Prof. Elena Kisyakova on the excavations of the Ancient Roman Forum in the southern Bulgarian city of Plovdiv.

He had recently completed his Master’s Degree in archaeology at the “St. Cyril and St. Methodius” University in the northern Bulgarian city of Veliko Tarnovo.

Popinov was interested in numismatics, and was supposed to start work as a numismatist at the Plovdiv Museum of Archaeology as of February 1, 2016.

The young archaeologist perished in a household accident in his hometown of Duvanliy, Plovdiv District, reports the 24 Chasa daily.

Papinov’s parents had recently bought a house there, and the young man had been working on its reconstruction. He was welding a pipe when he slipped and hit his head.

Tsvetan Papinov’s funeral in the town of Duvanliy gathered hundreds of people who came to pay their respects to the young archaeologist.

“He slipped, fell, and hit his head. There was no one around to help him, and he passed away,” archaeologist Elena Kisyakova has told the media.

“He was a very decent boy, a nice man with a pure heart. He was very diligent about his work. He always tried to complete his tasks in the best way possible,” she adds.

“It is such a pity that we have lost such a young man and an archaeologist with a great potential,” Kisyakova says.