The exhibition ‘The First Women at Sofia University’ was presented at the 26th conference of the Association of History Teachers in Bulgaria, held on 12th and 13th September 2026. Upon invitation by the Association’s management, Dr Ilonka Koleva, Head of the ‘University Archives’ Department, presented the exhibition and spoke about the history of women’s higher education in Bulgaria and the difficult path they faced in order to advance academically and earn leadership positions at the University. In her lecture, Dr Koleva highlighted the social background of the first female students and their subsequent professional development. The stories of the first female assistants and lecturers who dared to enter the entirely male-dominated academic environment, along with the biographies of two foreign lecturers – Zhang Sun-Feng-Kaneti and Mercia MacDermott – were met with widespread interest.
The exhibition has been organised by the Cultural Centre of Sofia University, the ‘University Archives’ Department and the University Library to mark the 125th anniversary of the enrollment of the first female students at Sofia University, and is scheduled to be displayed at the regional libraries in Ruse and Stara Zagora. The exhibition ‘The First Women at Sofia University’ is funded under contract No. 80-10-188 by the Research Fund of Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’.
