Stefan Marinov (Marinoff) was born on December 12, 1931 in the small Bulgarian village of Muselievo; he died on August 15, 2008 in Sofiya. Unfortunately we do not possess any data regarding his education during his youth. The gap in our knowledge is closed when he joined the Bulgarian Army, as it is documented that he belonged to the first class of musicians that attended the Bulgarian Military School of Music “Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky” in 1952. Following his musical education he joined the ranks of the Sofiya-based Representative Band of the Bulgarian Army. He remained with this organization until his retirement in 1972.
As a composer, Stefan Marinov was very productive in the realm of the march and is much esteemed for his arrangements of Bulgarian folklore. His best-known compositions are the marches “Sports March”, “General Dovator”, “Leipzig Hero”, “Parade” and “Vimpel” (The Insignia/Das Abzeichen). The last piece is very popular with many bands both on national and primarily on international levels. In addition to that Marinov became also known for this works for various wind instruments.
When the Central Band of the Czechoslovak People’s Army recorded a LP in the nineteen-sixties which was dedicated to ”Marches of the Warsaw Pact States”, Bulgarian marches became known with us for the first time, as this album was available in the West too. At that time the member countries of the Warsaw Pact provided the Prague Central Band with marches which they considered exemplary of their ”socialist” tradition and stylistic features. When comparing "Das Abzeichen" (The Insignia/Vimpel) with other marches of Bulgarian origin, this choice was wholly understandable. Since that time this ”model march from the Balkans” which cannot deny its folklore influences, definitely ranks in the top bracket of international marches of quality.