site.btaExhibition Tells 146-Year History of Bulgarian Red Cross

An exhibition dedicated to the 146th anniversary of the Bulgarian Red Cross (BRC), titled "The Bulgarian Red Cross - Personalities, Events and Symbols in Stamps and Postcards" is staged at the main office of the organization in Sofia by curators Efrosina Stoycheva and Nikola Nikolov and philatelist Totiu Karastoikov.

BRC President Hristo Grigorov said at the opening of the exhibition on Friday: "BRC is the largest humanitarian organization in Bulgaria because it is built on foundations laid by our ancestors. We have been working for the benefit of society for 146 years now. (...) We have always reached out and helped people in need because this is part of our mission."

Grigorov said keeping the independence of the Red Cross and giving hope to people in need are the top missions of the organization.

Greek Ambassador Alexios Marios Liberopoulos thanked the BRC volunteers and staff for their daily help to people in need in Bulgaria and abroad.

Ekaterina Borissova-Yovova, Head of Fundraising and Marketing at the PR and Fundraising Department, said the collection had been inspired by Karastoikov's long-standing interest in BRC and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The exhibition presents important personalities and events related to the humanitarian mission of the organization in Bulgaria and worldwide. Emphasis is placed on humanity, solidarity and volunteering.

Efrosina Stoycheva and Nikola Nikolov talked about the stamps and postcards on display. The originals are travelling around Bulgaria with the Union of Bulgarian Philatelists and an exhibition is coming up in Plovdiv.

Two postage stamps show the first Mercedes-Benz 230 ambulance of Sofia's emergency service in December 1937 and the first flights of the Fw 56C aircraft of the sanitary aviation service in 1947.

The exhibition also features commemorative stamps for the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Conventions (1999), the 100th anniversary of the Bulgarian Red Cross and the 100th anniversary of the Bulgarian Youth Red Cross (2021).

The first Bulgarian Red Cross Society was founded in the southeastern town of Sliven on October 25, 1878. Its statute was approved by Prince Alexander Dondukov-Korsakov, Governor General of Eastern Rumelia. After the Unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia in 1885, a national organization was established on September 20, 1885. Bulgaria's first prince, Alexander of Battenberg, took the BRC under his patronage. The organization was recognized by the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva in a letter dated October 20, 1885.

BRC is the largest humanitarian organization in Bulgaria. As of 2023, it had 141,580 members, 16,546 volunteers, 28 regional branches, 264 municipal branches and 2,691 local associations.