Bulgaria

The winners of Bulgaria's 12th History Competition on the topic of “Family History and Vicissitudes of Time” have been announced.

Traditionally, the diplomas of the winners are awarded by former President Petar Stoyanov (1997-2002). However, this year the coronavirus reshaped many traditions and the former head of the state sent his congratulations to the participants virtually in a video message. The young people received their diplomas by mail, and their prize monies were transferred into their bank accounts.

As the prize winners weren't able to meet in person, they introduced themselves and their research in a few words on the Value Foundation's website (in Bulgarian only).

Here are the names of the prize winners along with their research topics:

First prize:
"Blood leads us" by Monica Ivanova

Second prizes:
"Cracks" by Kostadin Tarakov
"In search of roots" by Ziad Djarar

Third prizes:
"The iron regiment and the iron man of Dobrudja" by Nevena Jelyazkova and Galena Jelyazkova
"Captain Ivan Banaliev - a life marked by the vicissitudes of time and destiny" by Maria Banalieva
"The irreconcilable spirit and the vicissitudes of time" by Maria Ilieva

 

The past century has been a turning point for Bulgarian history. The country went through four wars, two national catastrophes, economic and political crises. All this influenced the lives of families. The topic of the twelfth History Competition offered pupils a different point of view on history - through family history, as evidence of the vicissitudes of time, its dynamics and its multiplicity. For some families, these turning points lead to prosperity and education, for others to suffering and struggle for survival. For some, Bulgaria became a new home, others left the country forever.

The assignment for the pupils was to research the story of a family or person, to trace moments from the family history or life story of a certain person. They could use the following resources: family albums, letters, diaries, oral history reports, and, of course, material available in museums and archives.

The jury is composed mainly of history professors. Jurors were Professor Veselin Yanchev - Chairman, Bulgarian historian, lecturer in New Bulgarian History at the Faculty of History of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Professor Lubomir Ognyanov, Vanya Elenkova and Lyubov Filipova. They had the difficult task to judge the extensive research of the high school students.

The Bulgarian History Competition is open to students from grade 8 - 12 from all Bulgarian schools and was launched for the first time by the Values Foundation, an independent non-profit organisation, in 1999.