Vela Blagoeva
| Vela Blagoeva | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Victoria Atanasova Zhivkova (Bulgarian: Виктория Атанасова Живкова) 29 September 1859 Tarnovo, Ottoman Bulgaria |
| Died | 21 July 1921 (aged 61) Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Nationality | Bulgarian |
| Occupation | teacher, socialist writer, women's activist |
| Years active | 1871-1921 |
| Known for | Bulgarian Women's Union |
Vela Blagoeva (Bulgarian: Вела Благоева) (1859-1921) was a Bulgarian writer, journalist and teacher and is noted as one of the founders of the women's movement in Bulgaria. After completing a basic education in the Ottoman Empire, she taught until she received a scholarship to further her education in Russia. While taking courses in the Russian normal school and pedagogy training courses, she became a socialist. Returning to Bulgaria, she taught school and wrote editorials for a wide number of publications. In 1901, she joined with a group of feminists to found the Bulgarian Women's Union. Two years later, she organized the first Socialist women's organization and conference held in Bulgaria.
Victoria Atanasova Zhivkova was born on 29 September 1859 in Tarnovo, in Ottoman Bulgaria to Neda Spiridonova and Atanas Zhivkov. She was the youngest of five children, including sisters, Mariola and Rose, and brothers, Georgi Zhivkov who was a politician and served three times as head of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, and Nikola Zhivkov, founder of the first kindergarten in Bulgaria and poet who wrote the lyrics of the national anthem, Shumi Maritsa. Their father died while the children were young and her older brothers took responsibility for raising the family. She finished the middle school for girls in Tarnovo and went to high school in Gabrovo, graduating from the Gabrovo Girls' School in 1871. She became a teacher and taught in Berkovitsa, Istanbul, Tarnovo and Varna. In 1874, Zhivkova and her brother Nikola used their summer holiday to collect monies to build a girls' school and church in Varna. During the Russo-Turkish War, she served as a nurse at the 50th field hospital in Svishtov. When the war ended in 1878, Zhivkova obtained a scholarship from the Slavic Charity Committee of St. Petersburg and began attending pedagogical courses at the Mariinsky high school for girls, graduating in 1881. She returned to Bulgaria and taught in Edirne and later in Bitolia. Returning to Russia, between 1882 and 1884, she studied in St. Petersburg taking the Bestuzhev Courses to earn a teaching degree. While in Russia, she was influenced by the student protests against the and met St. Petersburg University student Dimitar Blagoev, whom she married.
...
Wikipedia