14 Facts About Vela Blagoeva

Vela Blagoeva was a Bulgarian writer, journalist and teacher.

Vela Blagoeva is noted as one of the founders of the women's movement in Bulgaria.

Vela Blagoeva 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.

Vela Blagoeva finished the middle school for girls in Tarnovo and went to high school in Gabrovo, graduating from the Gabrovo Girls' School in 1871.

Vela Blagoeva became a teacher and taught in Berkovitsa, Istanbul, Tarnovo and Varna.

Vela Blagoeva returned to Bulgaria and taught in Edirne and later in Bitolia.

Vela Blagoeva wrote articles about discrimination against teachers, equality and women's education.

In 1894, Vela Blagoeva began the magazine Case which was founded to disseminate socialist literary works of Bulgarian authors.

Vela Blagoeva edited the journal until 1896, when she was forced to suspend publication, primarily because of her husband's activities.

Two years later Vela Blagoeva led the faction that split from the BZhS for ideological differences.

Vela Blagoeva believed that the BzhS had become too focused on upper-class women's issues alone and was not focused on the worker's needs.

Vela Blagoeva founded a journal called Women's Labor where she began advocating for worker's rights.

In 1905, Vela Blagoeva founded the first educational group for women workers which focused on a socialist message and by August of that year had organized a conference for socialist women in Sofia.

Dimitur was killed during World War I Blagoeva died in Sofia on 21 July 1921.