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Prof. Michail Andreev- a Legend 100 Years Old

The name Michail Andreev bursts in my memory with a lot of recollections which hurry to the mouth and mutually block each other- like cars on a junction without traffic lights. May be I should let through only those which make an album of verbal photos of this unforgettable person.

I first met prof. Andreev as a teenager in the mid 60-es. This happened at the Debelyanov bridge in Koprivshtitsa. He walked with academician Petko Staynov from the upper side of the street and we- just in the opposite direction. My grandfather and Staynov as old friends started teasing each other on political issues- the one increased the volume of his hearing aid and the stick of the other started to jump polemicly from the ground. Then Mike Andreev put hands on their shoulders and cooled them by the words: “Let the Consuls guard and the Teachers-teach”. And he invited them to coffee.

I heard the same sentence from prof. Andreev a few years later in his introduction lecture on Roman law where he delicately suggested to us that in spite of being komsomol members our first task as students was to master the science and not to engage in politics. Some of us understood what he meant but not all of us.

His lectures in Roman law were real academic galas. If they were the first in the daily program, half an hour before their start the first banks in the university hall were anxiously occupied. And if they were the second on the schedule, the second hour of the previous lecturer was well visited in order to take better places for the following Roman law lecture. His speech carried a style of welcoming hospitality into science. The Roman law exam was the actual entry exam in the law faculty, our Holy Communion to Law and our Legal Baptizing. I saw him once in his cabinet when he was explaining with a red face to a student “My dear colleague, the professor said, in order to pass the Roman law exam, a profound change of your personality should take place”.

In a lecture on history of Bulgarian law he wrote on the blackboard the eight Royal Decrees and then turned to the auditorium with the words: ”Too many decrees you may say. Too few I would reply and if you do not take care of them someone will try to claim they are non-Bulgarian, like the medieval Law of Justice for the People.”

Just once I have seen prof. Andreev helpless and speechless- in that sacred evening of 07.12.1972 when under his windows at Tserkovsky str. some 250 students sang in his honor “Gaudeamus…”. He appeared at the door in his home robe- shocked and surprised. He tried to say something but failed and started waving his left hand while his right hand was holding the flowers we gave him- and he sank back into the house.

The unprecedented serenade for Mike Andreev showed beyond any doubt who was
the students’ favorite among the university teachers. But it also brought the envy and jealousy of others. The academic promotion of his doctor’s thesis “The Vatoped Royal Decree” was cancelled because of insufficient attendance at the promotion- the “comrades” simply forgot to come in order to fail him– and the debate was never scheduled again.

The pressure against Michail Andreev continued in two directions- first, they tried to devalue his subject Roman law by making it an alternative choice and in competition to the subject Political and Legal Doctrines. Second, a silent war was declared against his young followers. For example, just a day before the examination for an assistant in history of law the military prosecution started an investigation against the unforgettable Rumen Tcholov (a politically unwelcome candidate) whether he had been lawfully dismissed from military service some years earlier. Another candidate saw his research fellowship in Roman law cancelled with a sincere political cynicism.

Prof. Andreev knew the risks of being “the white crow” and those in power never believed his spirit was obedient. He met humiliation with dignity, concealed his suffering and never cashed it.
Now a few words about two of his rarely recalled writings. In 1946 the 35 years old Michail Andreev and the 34 years old Jivko Stalev issued an amazing commentary to the Law of Civil Procedure. Nothing of a similar quality to this commentary has appeared since then up to date, incl. after the 2007 procedural “coup d’etat” (the new Civil Procedure Code). The other writing is his joint research with Vladimir Kutikov in the annual book of the law faculty in 1960 on the Treaty of Prince Ivanko with the Genovians. Please note- Andreev with Stalev and Andreev with Kutikov- such sincere and fruitful academic friendships which should be examples for today’s occupants of their cabinets at the fourth floor.

The colleagues of my age do remember that to each salute of a student the professor answered with a pulled down hat and when the salute came from a beautiful female student- he slightly turned back after her.

The memories for Michail Andreev cannot be politically traded. I am not sure if he would have been happy to live to see the current legal Sodom and Gomorra. The purpose of this celebration is not to spray tear gas on his personality or to make it a blanket for hiding from reality. The true purpose is to make his presence felt in today’s difficult time and to imagine that he keeps walking along with us.
Prof. Michail Andreev will certainly remain a shining name in the academic mythology of the law faculty. Our vocation is to testify for him and that is why I can state with an open heart to our younger colleagues:

I tell you the truth- prof. Michail Andreev did exist.
We are happy to have seen him and to have lived with him.
But if you get excited by his deeds without having seen him-
then you are much happier than us!

01.12.2011                                                                                                                              Valentin Braykov