Irina Bokova
Encyclopedia
Irina Georgieva Bokova (born 12 July 1952) is a Bulgaria
n politician, incumbent Directors-General of UNESCO
. She was member of the Bulgarian Parliament from the Bulgarian Socialist Party
for two terms, minister and deputy minister of foreign affairs in the socialist cabinet of Prime Minister Zhan Videnov
, and was Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to France
and to Monaco
, Permanent Delegate of Bulgaria to UNESCO and Personal Representative of the President of Bulgaria to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (2005–2009). On 22 September 2009, Bokova's candidacy was proposed for the post of Director-General of UNESCO. On 15 October 2009, The 35th Session of the General Conference elected Irina Bokova of Bulgaria as the tenth Director-General of UNESCO. Bokova is the first female and Eastern European to head UNESCO.
, the official newspaper and organ of the Bulgarian Communist Party
. By descent Bokova is Bulgarian from Macedonia
. Bokova is a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Subsequently, as a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party and its successor, the Bulgarian Socialist Party
, Bokova made a career in Bulgaria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, eventually becoming Minister in 1996.
June 1995 - February 1997, other positions held in the cabinet of Zhan Videnov
, Bulgarian Socialist Party
:
-- 1980-90
Bulgarian Socialist Party
-- 1990–present
. She defeated nine candidates at the election in Paris
, with Farouk Hosny
ultimately being defeated by 31-27 in the fifth and last round of voting. Hosny had been expected to win but attracted criticism from figures such as Nobel Peace laureate Elie Wiesel
over his anti-Israel statements. She takes over the position from Koïchiro Matsuura
of Japan
. She will serve in this office for a four-year period. Bokova is both the first woman and the first Eastern Europe
an to take this role.
On 15 October 2009, The 35th Session of the General Conference elected Irina Bokova of Bulgaria as the tenth Director-General of UNESCO. The investiture took place in a ceremony in Room I in the afternoon of Friday 23 October 2009.
, calling it "a scandal", in light of Bokova's past.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n politician, incumbent Directors-General of UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. She was member of the Bulgarian Parliament from the Bulgarian Socialist Party
Bulgarian Socialist Party
The Bulgarian Socialist Party is social-democratic political party in Bulgaria and successor to the Bulgarian Communist Party. The BSP is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Socialist International, and is currently led by Sergei Stanishev....
for two terms, minister and deputy minister of foreign affairs in the socialist cabinet of Prime Minister Zhan Videnov
Zhan Videnov
Zhan Vasilev Videnov was prime minister of Bulgaria from 25 January 1995 until 13 February 1997, a term remembered for the most severe economic and financial crisis in recent Bulgarian history. He was chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party from 1991 to 1996.-Education:Zhan Videnov graduated...
, and was Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and to Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, Permanent Delegate of Bulgaria to UNESCO and Personal Representative of the President of Bulgaria to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (2005–2009). On 22 September 2009, Bokova's candidacy was proposed for the post of Director-General of UNESCO. On 15 October 2009, The 35th Session of the General Conference elected Irina Bokova of Bulgaria as the tenth Director-General of UNESCO. Bokova is the first female and Eastern European to head UNESCO.
Childhood and early years
Irina Bokova is the daughter of the controversial communist-era politician Georgi Bokov, editor-in-chief of Rabotnichesko DeloRabotnichesko Delo
Rabotnichesko Delo was a leftist Bulgarian newspaper that was the organ of the Bulgarian Communist Party's Central Committee and one of the People's Republic of Bulgaria's highest-circulation newspapers. The newspaper was established in 1927 and was issued from Sofia. Rabotnichesko Delo was...
, the official newspaper and organ of the Bulgarian Communist Party
Bulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party was the communist and Marxist-Leninist ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when the country ceased to be a communist state...
. By descent Bokova is Bulgarian from Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
. Bokova is a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Subsequently, as a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party and its successor, the Bulgarian Socialist Party
Bulgarian Socialist Party
The Bulgarian Socialist Party is social-democratic political party in Bulgaria and successor to the Bulgarian Communist Party. The BSP is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Socialist International, and is currently led by Sergei Stanishev....
, Bokova made a career in Bulgaria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, eventually becoming Minister in 1996.
Education
- 1971: First English Language SchoolFirst english language schoolFirst English Language School was founded in 1958 in Sofia, Bulgaria as a specialized high school for education of English language as a foreign language to Bulgarian high school students. The school has occupied its current location at 60 Dondukov Street since 1960 and shares it with the 112th...
, SofiaSofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
. - 1976: Moscow State Institute of International Relations, M.Sc. in international relations.
- Jan. - Aug. 1989: University of MarylandUniversity of MarylandWhen the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...
, School of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Program on US foreign policy decision-making process. - 1992 - 1994: NATO fellow, Program for Central and Eastern Europe on democratic institutions focusing on the national and legal mechanism for the protection of minorities.
- Nov. - Dec. 1999: Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, John F. Kennedy School of GovernmentJohn F. Kennedy School of GovernmentThe John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
, Executive Program in Leadership and Economic Development.
Awards and decorations
| Award or decoration | Date | Place |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor honoris causa of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore is a privately-owned Catholic university founded in 1921 by Agostino Gemelli. Its main campus is located in Milan, Italy with satellite campuses in Brescia, Piacenza, Cremona, Rome, and Campobasso... |
7 October 2010 | Milan Milan Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,... , Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... |
| Golden Cross Award (Quadricentennial Golden Cross) of the University of Santo Tomas University of Santo Tomas The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines , is a private Roman Catholic university run by the Order of Preachers in Manila. Founded on April 28, 1611 by archbishop of Manila Miguel de Benavides, it has the oldest extant university charter in the... |
25 March 2011 | Manila City, Philippines Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam... |
| Doctor honoris causa Philippine Normal University Philippine Normal University The Philippine Normal University is a public national university in the Philippines established during the early days of American rule of the Philippine Islands. Pursuant to a law passed by the Philippine Congress, Republic Act No... |
26 March 2011 | Manila City, Philippines Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam... |
Current positions
- Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to France.
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Principality of Monaco.
- Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Bulgaria to UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. - Representative of the Bulgarian Government to the Executive Board of UNESCO (since the election of Bulgaria in October 2007).
- Personal Representative of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria to Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).
- Deputy Chairperson, Group of Francophone Countries at UNESCO.
- Chairperson of the Second Extraordinary Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural HeritageIntangible Cultural HeritageThe concept of intangible cultural heritage emerged in the 1990s, as a counterpart to the World Heritage that focuses mainly on tangible aspects of culture...
(February 2008, Sofia). - Member of the Literary group Prix des Ambassadeur.
Parliamentary experience
- Deputy Chairperson of the Foreign Policy, Defense and Security Committee.
- Member of the European Integration Committee.
- Deputy Chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee Bulgaria – European Union.
Civil Society experience
- Founder and Chairperson of the European Policy Forum (since its inception in Sofia in 1997), a non-profit, non-governmental organization.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs experience
November 1996 - February 1997:- Minister of Foreign Affairs, cabinet of Zhan VidenovZhan VidenovZhan Vasilev Videnov was prime minister of Bulgaria from 25 January 1995 until 13 February 1997, a term remembered for the most severe economic and financial crisis in recent Bulgarian history. He was chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party from 1991 to 1996.-Education:Zhan Videnov graduated...
, Bulgarian Socialist PartyBulgarian Socialist PartyThe Bulgarian Socialist Party is social-democratic political party in Bulgaria and successor to the Bulgarian Communist Party. The BSP is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Socialist International, and is currently led by Sergei Stanishev....
June 1995 - February 1997, other positions held in the cabinet of Zhan Videnov
Zhan Videnov
Zhan Vasilev Videnov was prime minister of Bulgaria from 25 January 1995 until 13 February 1997, a term remembered for the most severe economic and financial crisis in recent Bulgarian history. He was chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party from 1991 to 1996.-Education:Zhan Videnov graduated...
, Bulgarian Socialist Party
Bulgarian Socialist Party
The Bulgarian Socialist Party is social-democratic political party in Bulgaria and successor to the Bulgarian Communist Party. The BSP is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Socialist International, and is currently led by Sergei Stanishev....
:
- First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs in charge of UN, OSCE, EU and NATO.
- Chief co-ordinator of Bulgaria–EU relations.
- Co-Chairperson, Bulgaria – EU Association Committee.
- National PHARE Co-ordinator.
- Chairperson, Inter-Agency Co-ordination Commission on European Integration (at deputy ministerial level).
- Took part as head of delegation or keynote speaker in a number of international fora.
- Member of the Board of Trustees of the Centre for European Studies.
Party Affiliation
Bulgarian Communist PartyBulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party was the communist and Marxist-Leninist ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when the country ceased to be a communist state...
-- 1980-90
Bulgarian Socialist Party
Bulgarian Socialist Party
The Bulgarian Socialist Party is social-democratic political party in Bulgaria and successor to the Bulgarian Communist Party. The BSP is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Socialist International, and is currently led by Sergei Stanishev....
-- 1990–present
UNESCO
On 22 September 2009, Bokova was elected Director-General of UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. She defeated nine candidates at the election in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, with Farouk Hosny
Farouk Hosny
Farouk Hosny , is an Egyptian abstract painter who was Minister of Culture from 1987 to 2011.-Early life and career:...
ultimately being defeated by 31-27 in the fifth and last round of voting. Hosny had been expected to win but attracted criticism from figures such as Nobel Peace laureate Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
Sir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
over his anti-Israel statements. She takes over the position from Koïchiro Matsuura
Koichiro Matsuura
is a Japanese diplomat. He is the former Director-General of UNESCO. He was first elected in 1999 to a six-year term and reelected on 12 October 2005 for four years, following a reform instituted by the 29th session of the General Conference...
of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. She will serve in this office for a four-year period. Bokova is both the first woman and the first Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an to take this role.
On 15 October 2009, The 35th Session of the General Conference elected Irina Bokova of Bulgaria as the tenth Director-General of UNESCO. The investiture took place in a ceremony in Room I in the afternoon of Friday 23 October 2009.
Controversy
While the vast majority of the Bulgarian media has been supportive of Ms. Bokova's future role at the helm of UNESCO, a few negative reactions based on her pedigree as a member of the totalitarian communist elite were heard. Thus, the Bulgarian-born, Germany-based writer Iliya Troyanov criticised Bokova's election as Director-General of UNESCO in the Frankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
, calling it "a scandal", in light of Bokova's past.
External links
- Official website (under Creative CommonsCreative CommonsCreative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
License)