Former Bulgarian President Presents Awards of Bulgarian History Competition
On 25 June, the director of the National Ethnographic Museum hosted the award ceremony of the 9th Bulgarian National History Competition in the Royal Palace in Sofia. Mitoko Todorv, chairman of the National Endowment Fund “13 centuries of Bulgaria”, as well as the former Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanova presented the prize winners with their awards.
Under the topic “Boundaries in History – History with Boundaries”, 122 secondary school students had investigated traces of their local or family history. They handed in 102 research works analysing the influence of borders on people’s lives and mindsets. Katja Fausser, Managing director of EUSTORY, was impressed by the students' contributions and congratulated them on their successful participation in the Bulgarian history competition. Also among the guests of the festive event were Yana Takeva, chairwoman of the Syndicats of Bulgarian Teachers, and members of Regional Inspectorates of Education who honored the students' performance.
Following the award ceremony, the National Ethnographic Museum organised an educational program for the guests. The whole event can be viewed on the website of Bulgarian’s International Television. In 1998, the Körber Foundation initiated the cooperation with the Values Foundation in the framework of EUSTORY. One year later, the independent non-profit organisation announced the first National History Competition “Nacionalen Istoričeski Konkurs”. The competition is open to all Bulgarian pupils aged between 14 and 19.
Radostin Dimitrov, Ralitsa Petrova, Jivko Penchev, Semra Ramis, and Miroslava Apostolova, students of the school “Yodan Yovkov” won the 1st prize for their group project on the border between Bulgaria and Romania in Dobrudzha. The pupils were committed researchers. They dug out personal and family memories, they conducted interviews with contemporary witnesses and novelists and they visited memorial sites in both countries.
The two 2nd prizes went to Adelina Fendrina and Airet Terbesheva. Adelina worked on boundaries in their natural, geographical, ethnical and social dimensions. Airet focused on the question if border lines help to preserve the local identity. The students illustrated this with the example of the village Ribnovo and its unique wedding tradition.
Four young historians were awarded with 3rd prizes. Yordan Danchev and Daniel Vlahov shot a documentary about the rivalry between the two cities of Sliven and Yambol. Yavor Genchev analysed the nationalisation in a local factory in 1947. Yana Voynova focused on border areas during socialist times and how they impacted everyday life. All four successfully applied for a space in this year’s History Camps. Follow this link to find out more about the History Camps.
The High School of National Sciences and Mathematics “Dobri Chintulov” received an honorable diploma by the Ministry of Education and Science for the excellent performance of its students: Adelina (left) won the 2nd prize and Yordan and Daniel won the 3rd prize for their group work.