Nikolay Nikolov Mateev

November 13, 1933 - April 29, 2021

Nikolay Nikolov Mateev was born in Velchevo, Bulgaria on November 13, 1933 to parents Nikola Mateev and Ivanka Mateeva. His family were subsistence farmers, going back generations. After high school he completed his studies to become a school teacher. He then performed compulsory service for the Bulgarian military, and, upon discharge, began to teach elementary school. Nikolay met his future wife, Margaritka Mateeva, in 1960. They married in 1961 and had one child, Nelly Mateeva. He continued to teach elementary school (grades 1-4) in the old Bulgarian capital Veliko Turnovo. There he was greatly loved by parents and pupils alike. He had a reputation for his love of children, education, and the profession in general. He was also a devout, practicing Bulgarian Orthodox Christian. Years later, in Tallahassee, he would still lead the family in old Slavonic prayer, which he had learned as a child. He and Margaritka raised their first granddaughter, Margarita, in Bulgaria until she turned eight, and they came to Tallahassee to be with family and help in the raising of their second granddaughter, Dimitria, years later. He was known as a kind, caring, patient man who doted on his daughter and granddaughters. He is survived by his wife Margaritka Mateeva, his daughter Nelly Mateeva and her husband Nikolay Tarkalanov, and his two granddaughters, Margarita Tarkalanova and Dimitria Tarkalanova.