The Bulgarian scientific societies, created by men, worked up to the 1920-1930s as a fully “male space”. The acceptance of women in them began after the World War I and was most active in the 1920s. There was a trend for easier entry of women as members and even as part of the management boards of societies at first in natural and medical sciences, while in the humanitarian it took place in the 1930s.
The scientific societies (the Bulgarian Historical Society, the Bulgarian Archaeological Institute, the Society of Pathologists and Anatomists, the Association of Mental Diseases Specialists, the Educational Philosophical Society, the Union of Chemists in Bulgaria and so on) the proportion of women was too small (from 1 % to 34 %). Usually women did not participate in the Boards (exceptions were Theodora Raykova-Kovacheva in the Union of Chemists in Bulgaria, and Dr. Rayna Ganeva in the Educational Philosophical Society), they published rarely or never printed their scientific papers and articles on the pages of specialized periodicals. However, the main scientific society, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, did not accept women until the end of the World War II, although they could publish their works in its periodicals and had been awarded for scientific contributions.
Meeting of the Sofia Chemical Society
Congress of Archaeological Societies
One of the key activities of the IFUW was granting scholarships for specialisation and scientific work in universities and laboratories. From its establishment the BAUW regularly informed its members about the national and international scholarships. A special commission examined the applications and directed the documents of Bulgarian candidates. At the end of the 1930s the BAUW members participated further in international scholarship competitions, although it was impossible for them to win scholarships without the support of their national association. In 1937 the lawyer Dora Mustakova was awarded a prize by the IFUW for her monograph, in 1938 Dr. Vera Paraskova won a scholarship and specialized Biochemistry in Zurich. The lawyer Vera Zlatareva, the first Doctor in Law of the Sofia University, applied for a scholarship in criminal sociology.
Doctoral and postgraduate research of Bulgarian women scientists (scholars) in Germany (1920-1940s)
Doctoral and postdoctoral graduates | Research area | Affiliation
| Institution receiver | Funding
|
Chranowa, Anna | Zoology | Sofia University | 1925, Berlin, Institute for Fermentation; 1926, doctoral research, Greifswald University; 1940, Berlin, Institute of Zoology; 1943-1944,Wurzburg, University Clinic, Institute of Genetics and Racial Research; 1944-1948, Dresden, Institute of Biology of Dr. Madaus and Co. | 1925, own expenses; 1926, own expenses; 1940, Sofia University; 1943-1948, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and Kerckhoff Foundation, Bad Neuheim |
Dimitrowa, Ariadne | Zoology | Sofia University | 1924-1925, Berlin, Institute for Fermentation; 1926, doctoral research, Rostock University; 1927, Berlin, KWI of Zoology | 1924-1925, Ministry of Education; 1926, Ministry of Public Education; 1927, Sofia University |
Dragneva, Zhivka | German studies | Sofia University; Independent scholar (retired after 1936) | 1928, 1930, Munich; 1936, Germany | 1928, own expenses;1930, German Academy; 1936, own expenses |
Dramaliewa-Kodjejkowa, Liuba | German studies | Independent scholar (high school teacher) | 1932, Berlin | 1932, German Academy |
Iwanowa, Gora | German studies | Independent scholar (high school teacher) | 1930, 1931, Munich; 1937, Berlin University, preparation of habilitation; 1939, Munich; 1939-1940, Berlin University | 1930, German Academy; 1931, own expenses; 1937, Ministry of Public Education; 1939, German Academy; 1939-1940, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation |
Kacarova-Kukudowa, Rajna | Ethnomusicology
| National Museum of Ethnography | 1933, Institute of Music Studies – Berlin University, Berlin Phonogram Archive, Berlin National Library; 1933, Leipzig University, Dresden University; 1935, Munich University
| own expenses |
Kaltschewa, Dona N. | Biochemistry, Interface and Colloid Science | Sofia University; Higher School of Social Sciences at the Bulgarian Women’s Union | 1930-1931, Berlin, KWI of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry | Sofia University |
Kaltschewa, Radka N. | Meteorology, Climatology | Institute of Meteorology | 1938-1940, Berlin-Potsdam | Institute of Meteorology |
Kolushewa, Anna | Analytical Chemistry, X-Ray, Spectroscopy | Institute of Health Care | 1934-1935, Berlin, Higher School of Technology | Sofia University |
Naidenowa-Romanska (Stoilowa), Ganka | German Studies | German Scientific Institute, Sofia, 1940-1942; Independent scholar (high school teacher) | 1939-1942, doctoral research, Berlin University | Alexander von Humboldt Foundation |
Nikolova-Galabowa, Jeanne
| German Studies | Sofia University | 1931-1933, Jena, Frankfurt am Main; 1938, 1939, 1940, Germany; 1941-1942, Berlin University, preparation of habilitation; | 1931-1933, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; 1938-1940, Sofia University; 1941-1942, Sofia University |
Petkowa, Raina | Social Work | Higher School of Social Sciences at the Bulgarian Women’s Union | 1929-1932, Berlin, German Academy for Social and Educational Women’s Work | 1929-1932, Bulgarian Women’s Union |
Raikowa-Kowatchewa, Theodora P. | Organic Chemistry
| Sofia University | 1922, Berlin University; 1931, Berlin University | own expenses |
Silianowska-Dimitrowa (Nowikowa), Тatiana | Art history and Archeology | Independent scholar
| 1937-1939, Berlin University | own expenses |
Stoilowa, Eugenia R. | Veterinary Medicine, Microbiology | Veterinary and Bacteriology Station, Varna | 1938, Berlin, Robert Koch Institute | Ministry of Interior and Pubic Health |
Walkowa-Mollowa, Newjana | Intern Medicine | Sofia University | 1942-1943, Berlin University | Sofia University |
Zahariewa-Kowatschewa, Krasimira
| Paleontology
| Sofia University | 1942, Berlin University | Sofia University |
Academic/ Research trips of Bulgarian women scientists (scholars) to Germany (1930-1940s)
Scientists and scholars attended scientific forums | Research area | Affiliation
| Scientific forums
| Funding
|
Kara-Michailova, Elizabeth | Nuclear Physics
| Sofia University | 1943, Weimar, workshop
| Sofia University |
Konushlieva-Mileva, Elena
| Ophthalmology
| Sofia University | 1941, Leipzig, German-Bulgarian conference
| Sofia University |
Nikolova-Galabowa, Jeanne
| German studies
| Sofia University | 1941, Leipzig, academic workshop
| Sofia University |
Papasowa-Kruck, Ekaterina (Katja) | Psychology
| Independent scholar (high school teacher) | 1930s, congresses | own expenses |
Raikowa-Kowatchewa, Theodora P.
| Organic Chemistry | Sofia University | 1931, Berlin, Congress of German chemists
| own expenses |
Silianowska-Dimitrowa (Nowikowa), Тatiana | Archeology | Independent scholar
| 1939, Berlin, International Congress of Archeology | own expenses |
Todorowa-Welewa, Maria
| Ethnography
| National Museum of Ethnography | 1942, Frankfurt, ethnographic exhibition
| National Museum of Ethnography |
Bulgarian women working in German scientific institutions (1920-1940s)
Doctoral and postdoctoral graduates | Research area | Institutional affiliation
| Additional institutional affiliation |
Britchkova, Maria | Classical Archeology | 1931-1937, German Archeological Institute, Rome |
|
Dragneva, Zhivka | German studies | Sofia University; Independent scholar (retired after 1936) | Bulgarian-German Mediator’s Bureau, 1933-1944 |
Naidenowa-Romanska (Stoilowa), Ganka | German studies | Independent scholar (doctoral student, high school teacher) | German Scientific Institute, Sofia, 1940-1942 |
Nikolova-Galabowa, Jeanne
| German studies | Sofia University | German Scientific Institute, Sofia, 1940-1942 |
Taslakowa, Theodora | Medicine | 1926-1937, Research Institute of Hygiene and Immunology, Berlin; Institute for Cancer Research, Berlin; Rudolf Virchow Hospital, Berlin
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