Solemn meeting for the National Enlighteners Day
The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences marked the National Enlighteners Day with a solemn meeting held in the “Prof. Marin Drinov” Hall. “This year marks the 175th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Vazov which the leadership of BAS decided to mark together with the National Enlighteners Day. The speeches of the President of BAS and Academician Ivan Granitski are dedicated to him as an embodiment of enlightenment, the idea of education, and patriotism,” the Vice-President of the Academy Prof. Emmanuel Moutafov, who opened the solemn meeting, said.
The National Enlighteners Day is a holiday that revives the memory of the spiritual leaders of the nation, those who have awakened our people in their pursuit of enlightenment, knowledge, and moral dignity, the President of BAS Evelina Slavcheva said in her festive address on the occasion of the holiday. “A unifier of the national community and creator of the cultural tools for its development, Vazov is not just a writer, but a spiritual architect of the Bulgarian nation. He is still needed today, and the memory of him is vital because history repeats itself unreasonably but science, culture, and literature are still called upon to ennoble people, to protect humanity from forgetting and repeating its historical mistakes,” the President of BAS emphasized.
In her speech, she noted that every era needеd its enlighteners. “Today, when we are not threatened by yoke but when we sink into indifference, when it often falls asleep in the comfort of everyday life, we need a new enlightenment, people who, with knowledge, integrity, and thought, illuminate the way forward,” Prof. Slavcheva said. “Being an enlightener in the modern world means defending the truth in a society that often loses it in the shadows of misinformation. Being a scientist means continuing the work of Vazov and the National Revivalists by turning knowledge into spiritual light,” the President of BAS emphasized. She addressed the scientists with the words: “Let us work so that each of our studies, each book, each new idea is a continuation of that Revival impulse that once lit the candle of Bulgarian spirituality. “We, too, have given something to the world,” Ivan Vazov reminds us. Let us continue to give – with honor, with thought, and with an awareness of the responsibility we bear for the future.”
A speech on the topic “The Enlighteners and the Spiritual Revival of the Fatherland” was delivered by Acad. Ivan Granitski from the Assembly of Academicians and Corresponding Members of the Academy.
During the event, the “BAS Awards for Journalists” for 2024 were presented. “The Academy relies on high-quality Bulgarian journalists, encourages objectivity and national responsibility towards the problems of science and education in which the BAS plays a major role,” the Vice-President Prof. Emmanuel Moutafov said.
The BAS Governing Council’s Award for Journalists for 2024 in the “Electronic Media” category went to Victoria Petrova, television announcer and reporter for bTV News. The award in the “Online Media” category was given to Vanya Mileva, editor at Nauka OFFNews. For her overall long-standing coverage of the activities of BAS, Veliana Hristova was honored with a special award. For 40 years, she has been professionally involved in topics related to education and science, consistently covering and commenting on the funding of BAS, as well as the attempts to amend the Law on BAS and close the Academy. The award for “Correct and Rich Bulgarian Language in Journalism” was presented to Kiril Valchev, Director General of the Bulgarian News Agency.
In the foyer of the Academy, the Central Library and the Scientific Archive of BAS have presented an exhibition dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Vazov. The exhibition displays a large part of all 1000 separate editions stored in the collections of the Central Library of BAS. The Scientific Archive of BAS has presented interesting archival documents – valuable items, letters, and poems dedicated to Vazov. A valuable exhibit has been the exposition is the “Silver Lyre,” a gift to Ivan Vazov from the Jubilee Committee for the poet’s first jubilee in 1895 on the occasion of his 25 years of literary activity. The exquisite gift was specially commissioned in Vienna. The titles of some of Vazov’s immortal works are inscribed on the leaves.
During the ceremony, the annual awards for outstanding scientific achievements were presented by the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria. Prof. Garo Mardirossian from the Space Research and Technology Institute at BAS was honored for his scientific and applied contribution in the “Natural Sciences” category for his book “Natural Disasters and Ecological Catastrophes: Study, Prevention, and Protection”
