Trade House of Polycar and Canetti

One of the great prides of Ruse is that it is the hometown of Elias Canetti - winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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One of the houses of his family still stands on Slavyanska Street. In 1892, his grandfather, Elias Avram Canetti, together with his partner David Polikar, founded the famous Polycar and Canetti trading house. It is no coincidence that they chose the then Targovska Street as the home of their activity, as it was a bustling center connecting Bulgaria with Europe through the port.
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The talented architect Nigohos Bedrosyan completed the building of the same name in 1898. On the ground floor he designed the warehouses where the Polycar and Canetti company sells all kinds of goods: wheat, barley, coffee and small agricultural tools. The commercial premises are located on the first floor.
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Elias Avram Canetti is known not only as a good merchant but also as a compassionate citizen who regularly helped raise and donate funds to various causes in the city. After the dissolution of his partnership with Polycar, he founded a new company with his two sons, George and Jacques. The subject of activity is the production of umbrellas, trade in glassware, paints and varnishes, gas and haberdashery. In 1917 the company moved its headquarters to Vienna.
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Subsequently, the building served as a home for the Bulgarian River Shipping Company, as well as a furniture house "House of Life". Currently, the international company "Elias Canetti" manages the building and organizes cultural events and exhibitions.
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Source: Doikov, V., Dimitrova, M. The buildings - the European cultural heritage of Ruse. R., 2013