site.btaForeign Minister Mitov Receives Donation from Family of Swiss Founder of Sports Movement in Bulgaria

Foreign Minister Mitov Receives Donation from Family of Swiss Founder of Sports Movement in Bulgaria

Sofia, November 12 (BTA) - Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov
Thursday received a donation from the family of the founder of
the sports movement in Bulgaria, Louis-Emil Eyer, the Foreign
Ministry said.
    
Born in Homberg in the Canton of Berne, Eyer studied in
Lausanne, Geneva and Neuchatel and taught sport disciplines in
Vevey. In 1894, Eyer and nine other Swiss pedagogues, including
Georges de Regibus and Charles Champaud, were invited to
Bulgaria by Education Minister Georgi Zhivkov to lay the
foundations of sports education in the country.

When the Balkan Wars broke out, Eyer, despite being a foreign
citizen, regarded the protection of his second homeland as his
duty and enlisted in the Bulgarian Army as a volunteer. After
Bulgaria joined World War I, Eyer again enlisted as a volunteer
as an officer in the 38th Infantry Regiment. He died on
September 2, 1916 in the Battle of Doiran.

The donation consists of his sword, two Bulgarian orders and an
original oil portrait of the young Eyer. The donations will be
exhibited at the National Museum of Military History and the
Museum of Physical Culture and Sports. The ceremony was attended
 by Swiss Ambassador Denis Knobel, the Bulgarian Ambassador to
Switzerland, Meglena Plougchieva, and representatives on the
ministries of culture and of youth and sports.