AustLit

Georgi Markov lost his life in a tragic and absurd way. An exiled Bulgarian playwright and author, he was targeted by his government, who wished to prevent him from publicly denouncing their corrupt political system. On the 7th September, 1978, while Markov was waiting at a bus stop at Waterloo Bridge, an anonymous man surreptitiously jabbed him with the tip of his umbrella. The umbrella tip held a poison pellet and two days later Markov died - assassinated by an umbrella. This is also the story of what the umbrella did next.