Ekaterina Karavelova

Ekaterina Karavelova
Born	on 21st of October, 1860 in Rouschuk, Bulgaria and died the 1st of April 1947 in Sofia

Ekaterina Karavelova (Bulgarian: Екатерина Каравелова), (21 October 1860 in Rouschuk – 1 April 1947 in Sofia), was a Bulgarian educator, translator, publicist, suffragist and women's rights activist. She was the founder of the cultural women's organization Maika(Mother) and its chairperson in 1899-1929, Vice chairperson of the Bulgarian Women's Union in 1915-1925, president of the Bulgarian branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1925, co-founder of the Bulgarian-Romanian Association in 1932, co-founder of the Bulgarian Writers Association and its president in 1935.

Active as a teacher, she was early on active in the debate of women's education and status of female teachers. In 1901, she was a co-founder of the Bulgarian Women's Union alongside Vela Blagoeva, Kina Konova, Anna Karima and Julia Malinova. The organization was an umbrella organization of the 27 local women's organisations that had been established in Bulgaria since 1878. It was founded as a reply to the limitations of women's education and access to university studies in the 1890s, with the goal to further women's intellectual development and participation, arranged national congresses and used Zhenski glas as its organ. Ekaterina Karavelova served as a Bulgarian delegate of several international conferences. In 1935 she opposed the capital punishment of political prisoners in Bulgaria, and in 1938 served in a commission that opposed the closure of Bulgarian schools in Romania.

Karavelova Point in Antarctica “is named after Ekaterina Karavelova (1860–1947), translator, author and woman activist.”

Private life

She was married to an important politician : Petko Karavelov who was the leader of the Liberal Party and also four times the Prime Minister of Bulgaria. Together they had 3 children.

Honours and Awards

• Holder of the Order "For Philanthropy"
• Order ‘For Civil Merit’ I degree
• Holder of the Order "For Culture and Art" - silver
• Commemorative Cross ‘For the Independence of Bulgaria 1908
• Twice awarded the ‘Red Cross’ medal

See also

• List of peace activists

References

• Francisca de Haan, Krasimira Daskalova & Anna Loutfi: Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms in Central, Easterna and South Eastern Europe, 19th and 20th centuries Central European University Press, 2006