Baba Vanga
| Grandmother Vanga | |
|---|---|
Clairvoyant and healer
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| Born |
31 January 1911 Strumica, Ottoman Empire, present day Republic of Macedonia |
| Died | 11 August 1996 (aged 85) Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Nationality | Bulgarian |
| Spouse(s) | Dimitar Gushterov, (m. 1942-1962; his death) |
Grandmother Vanga (Bulgarian: баба Ванга) (31 January 1911 – 11 August 1996), born Vangeliya Pandeva Dimitrova (Вангелия Пандева Димитрова), known after her marriage as Vangelia Gushterova (Вангелия Гущерова), was a blind Bulgarian mystic, clairvoyant, and herbalist, who spent most of her life in the Rupite area in the Kozhuh mountains Bulgaria. Millions of people around the world believed she possessed paranormal abilities.
Vanga was born in Strumica, then in the Ottoman Empire, present day Republic of Macedonia. She was a premature baby who suffered from health complications. In accordance with local tradition, the baby was not given a name until it was deemed likely to survive. When the baby first cried out, a midwife went into the street and asked a stranger for a name. The stranger proposed Andromaha (Andromache), but this was rejected for being "too Greek" during a period of anti-Hellenic sentiment within Bulgarian society. Another stranger's proposal was a Greek name, but popular with Bulgarians in the region: Vangelia (from Evangelos).
In her childhood, Vangelia was an ordinary child with brown eyes and blonde hair. Her father was an IMRO activist, conscripted into the Bulgarian Army during World War I, and her mother died soon after. This left Vanga dependent on the care and charity of neighbours and close family friends for much of her youth. After the war, Strumica emigrated from Bulgaria to Serbia. The Serbian authorities arrested the father, because of his pro-Bulgarian activity. They confiscated all his property and the family fell into poverty for many years. Vanga was considered intelligent for her age. Her inclinations started to show up when she herself thought out games and loved playing "healing" – she prescribed some herbs to her friends, who pretended to be ill. Her father, being a widower, eventually remarried, thus providing a stepmother to his daughter.
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Wikipedia