Interrupted biographies: six distinguished female figures between repressions and survival during the communist regime in Bulgaria

Abstract

The paper presents the interruptions to the biographical trajectories of six women persecuted in different periods during the communist regime in Bulgaria in order to outline the common features as well the specificity of their cases: two former leading feminists: Julia Malinova ( Julia Jakovlevna Schneider – President of the Bulgarian Women’s Union until 1926, Dimitrana Ivanova, President 1926–1944), two members of the Oppositional (Nikola Petkov’s) Bulgarian Agrarian Party (Rayna Lapardova and Tsvetana Tsacheva), two scientists from the Turkish minority in Bulgaria Mefkure Mollova and Hayriye Memova). The paper presents the documentation on these women and their political and academic activities, and the deficits of information, as well as the radical interruptions to their lifestyles, careers, family life, and social ties, and social integration of these women. The research is based on documents from personal finds, the women’s publications, documents from the secret archives of the State Security, memories, and personal testimonies.