site.btaBulgaria Loses Legendary Journalist Daniela Kaneva

Renowned Bulgarian journalist Daniela Kaneva died at age 87, niece Lidia Kaneva told BTA Thursday. She was known for her profound knowledge of Indian and Japanese culture, and her career as a journalist started at BTA. 

In a condolence letter to her family, President Rumen Radev said that through her powerful reports and films, Kaneva transcended the mission of journalism by building spiritual bridges between Bulgaria and the nations and peoples featured in her stories.

Parliament Speaker Natalia Kiselova wrote in a message of condolences that hundreds of thousands of television viewers, were able, through her journalistic work, "to experience the Far East and discover new worlds and cultural layers".

Life and career

Daniela Kaneva was born in Sofia. She studied nuclear physics that was followed by foreign trade and international relations in London. Having returned to Sofia, she started teaching English but developed an interest in journalism and started work at the Bulgarian News Agency.

Between 1970 and 1975 she was BTA’s correspondent in Japan with a permanent accreditation to that country. She was the first Bulgarian correspondent and the first foreign journalist accredited to Japan.

The deep interest in Japan stuck for life for her.

After her Japan tenure, she was invited to work at the Bulgarian National Television as a war correspondent. She covered the Iran-Iraq war, the conflicts in the Persian Gulf, Bosnia and other hotspots.

She has done interviews with USSR Foreign Minister Andrey Gromiko and Ray Charles. The musicians even visited Sofia for a gig in the 1980s at Kaneva’s suggestion.

In January 1985, Kaneva had her first interview with Rajiv Gandhi after his election as India’s Prime Minister following the assassination of his mother Indira Gandhi. On May 21, 1991, just hours before his own tragic death, Rajiv Gandhi spoke with Kaneva while piloting his aircraft. The exclusive footage, captured in those final moments, quickly drew global attention. Despite urgent requests from major networks like the BBC and CNN, it was Bulgaria’s National Television that aired the interview first.

Kaneva was also a correspondent in Vietnam and China, and covered events in Algeria, Sri Lanka and elsewhere. She is the author of over 110 documentaries, including 25 dedicated to Japan.

In 2011 the Order of the Rising Sun, with Gold and Silver Rays, for her remarkable contribution to the strengthening of Bulgarian-Japanese relations.

In 2015, she was honored with the “Golden Feather” award by the Union of Bulgarian Journalists (UBJ) for her lifelong contribution to Bulgarian journalism. 

Three years later, in 2018, she was among the nominees for the UBJ’s prestigious Yosif Herbst Special Award. 

In 2020, Daniela Kaneva received the Presidential Badge of Honor, a recognition of her significant impact on national journalism. Speaking at the ceremony, she reflected on the enduring role of the press in society: “With few exceptions and many trials through time, Bulgaria has always been a land of strong journalists.” Kaneva emphasized that journalism is a calling and voiced her hope that the new generation would embrace it as such. "On this earth," she said, "journalists are bound to help people awaken to the meaning of being human and the reason we were created."

A funerary service for Daniela Kaneva will be held at the Church of the Seven Saints in Sofia on April 27.