site.btaSt Zlata of Meglen Award Ceremony Honours Bulgarian Women Worldwide; Radoslava Nedyalkova Named Woman of the Year 2023

The award ceremony for the Bulgarian Woman of the Year St Zlata of Meglen Award 2023 took place in the Maxima Aula of the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, the organizers said on Friday.

In the 12th edition of this award, organized by the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, Radoslava Nedyalkova from Milan, Italy, was named the winner. She received a statuette crafted by Atanas Karadechev and an icon of St Zlata of Meglen, hand-painted by Antonia Yankova. They were presented by Nadya Mladenova, Chief of Staff to the Vice President.

Special guests at the ceremony included Justice Minister Mariya Pavlova, representatives from the embassies of Ukraine, Armenia, Romania, and Hungary in Bulgaria, the Chair of the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad, Petya Tsaneva, and members of the competition's committee: Plamen Pavlov, Anna Kocheva, Tanya Mihaylova, Director of the Diplomatic Institute to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bulgarian National Radio Director General Milen Mitev, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, and Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova, Director of the State Cultural Institute to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The event began with Maria Angelova performing "This is Bulgaria". Afterwards, the 24 nominees - Bulgarian women from 19 countries - were introduced.

History professor Plamen Pavlov, who established the award and chairs the committee, shared the story of St Zlata of Meglen, explaining her selection as the heavenly patroness of Bulgarians abroad in 2009.

He also presented posthumous awards to Galina Todorova from Prague, Czechia, and Ganna (Peneva) Besarabska-Tavriyska from Odesa, Ukraine. Besarabska-Tavriyska's award was accepted by her daughter, Varvara Prodanova, and Todorova's award was accepted by Lachezar Petkov, who led the Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Prague during Todorova's most active years.

In her speech,  Rayna Mandzhukova, Executive Director of the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, highlighted the importance of all nominees. "Each nominee and her actions are important in their own way," she said. She noted the difficulty in choosing one recipient, so this year they honoured six Bulgarian women excelling in different fields. "There's nothing better than saying 'Thank you,' and our Bulgarian women abroad truly deserve it. We have many reasons to thank them," Mandzhukova said.

The six women honoured with plaques for promoting the Bulgarian language, folklore, culture and spirituality were Zdravka Vladova-Momcheva (London, UK), Nelly Hadzhiyska (New York), Radoslava Nedyalkova (Milan, Italy), Elena Doycheva-Dragomir (Star Bisnov, Romania), Gabriella Hadzsikosztova (Budapest, Hungary), and Tsvetana Paskaleva (Yerevan, Armenia).

The inaugural Audience Award, voted online by Bulgarians worldwide, was presented to Nevenka Kostadinova from Bosilegrad, Serbia.