The Third Edition of the University Week of the Book Was Opened

Monday, 27 March 2023 20:10

The third edition of University Week of the Book (27-31 March 2023) was opened in the presence of students and over 500 secondary school pupils who visited the University for the exhibition and the Open Doors Day. Over 15 publishers, 4 of which were university ones, had set up their stalls. Guests at the official opening were the Mayor of the Students district Petko Goranov and Georgy Toshev - journalist, writer, director, producer.

In the opening of the third consecutive book forum took part Prof. Dr. Tsvetana Stoyanova, Vice-Rector for Institutional and Business Cooperation and Student Policies, Prof. Dr. Matilda Alexandrova-Boshnakova, Vice Rector for Educational Activities, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosen Kirilov, Vice-Rector for Digitalization and Cybersecurity

"The culture is a matter of national security and as a lecturer in this field I agree with this statement. Because without culture you cannot consider what is worth to defend. And it is our duty to the younger generation to preserve this culture in every aspect," said the Rector of the University and presented the upcoming events during the University Week of the Book. He outlined that one of the objectives of the UNWE Managing body is to turn the University into a cultural center, a university that spreads culture, shows culture – leading university in organizing events related to the culture.

The Mayor of the Students district supported the initiative, saying that he would help to make it happen. "The fact that a bridge is being made between the business and the culture is a very good initiative and we, the local government, can be partners in making this happen. The programme of the Week of the Book is so interesting that I could say without any exaggeration that I am here not only to represent the Students district and the local government but also for my own pleasure", said Petko Goranov.

27 March is also the World Theatre Day and the first books presented in the exhibition were biographies of great Bulgarian artists - Tsvetana Maneva, Nevena Kokanova, Katya Paskaleva, Stefan Danailov, Georgy Partsalev and Naum Shopov by the author Georgy Toshev.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Svetla Tsankova from the Media and Public Communications Department, Georgy Toshev and the Rector of the UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov

"The enthusiasm of all the people participating in the University Week of the Book speaks enough, everyone was keen to get involved. For us it is a recognition how valuable is the initiative. A new book is really a new world that opens up to us and during this week everyone can find many new worlds", said Prof. Dimitrov.

The moderator of the event was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Svetla Tsankova from the Media and Public Communications Department. She presented the author and his books in the Large Conference Hall emphasizing on the fact that Georgy Toshev is a long-standing friend of the UNWE and the Department. She presented the author whose name is associated with remarkable series such as The Other Bulgaria, The Unknown, The Children of the Other Bulgaria, not only as a journalist and a storyteller of amazing stories but also as an author of biographies of people - not just famous people, but cultural emblems. "They are an important part of our public memory that will be kept by what he has done. He shows that journalism is not a sprint but a marathon and Georgy Toshev is a successful marathon runner because all his projects prove that quality journalism can also be done in Bulgaria", said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Svetla Tsankova.

"Reading for me is related to the search for answers to difficult questions. The big answers and questions are in the books. The reading person is the awake person and only the awake person is the acting person. Only our actions can legitimize us as people", said Georgy Toshev addressing mostly to the young part of the audience. "What unites all my heroes is that they not only carry secrets but they are also very talented and decent people. And one more common quality - their careers are stable over the time", explained Georgy Toshev his motives to write the biographies of the great Bulgarian actors.

The next book presented at the Forum was Vasil Levsky - the Drama of the Choice by the author Prof. D.Sc. Ivaylo Hristov.

"Levsky is certainly the most famous, the most popular personality in Bulgaria, in all rankings he occupies the first place, no one has disputed his importance. But at the same time he is an enigma. It is a miracle that the Bulgarian people created, gave birth to this man, a psychological rarity, I am not convinced that it will happen a second time. I also have personal motives. My great-great-grandfather was one of Levsky's associates and companions, a friend of Dimitar Pushkov, and his name is carved on the memorial plaque in the village of Sopot in Lovech. So I have both professional and personal motives", explained the author the reasons for writing this second book.

Prof. Dimitar Dimitrov and Prof. D.Sc. Ivaylo Hristov

The Rector greeted Prof. D.Sc. Ivaylo Hristov for the choice of topic and shared: "I was very impressed by Levsky's great organizational talent, to create such a great organization in those turbulent times, to motivate so many people who did not know each other, to take risks every day and every night - it is a great deed".

The third presentation was the monograph "Active Aging - Health, Social and Economic Determinants" by the authors from two UNWE Statistics and Econometrics Department - Prof. Dr. Veselka Pavlova, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ekaterina Tosheva, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mariana Murgova and Atanas Dimov and from the UNWE Human Resources and Social Protection Department - Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ralitsa Pandurska.

Prof. Dr. Veselka Pavlova, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ekaterina Tosheva and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ralitsa Pandurska

This is a serious work funded by targeted grants for scientific activities of UNWE. The conclusions for Bulgaria as a result of the study are not optimistic. The study shows that the relative share of the population over 65 in the world is around 10%, in Europe it is around 20%, and in Bulgaria it reaches 23% with the average life expectancy in Bulgaria being the lowest in Europe - around 73 years, and in Europe it is around 80 years. We have both a high proportion of elderly people and a low life expectancy.

In honour of the 170th anniversary of the birth of Prof. Stefan S. Bobchev it was presented the book "Slav in His Homeland, Bulgarian Abroad" by the author Assoc. Prof. Dr. Petar Parvanov from Neofit Rilski South-West University. It is a book about the life of the Founder and First Rector of the Free University of Political and Economic Sciences - today's UNWE – Prof. Stephan Bobchev.

The author was introduced by Atanas Dimitrov, Director of the Inter-University Centre for Career Development and one of the initiators of the re-publication of the book at the UNWE. "We, as a university with a 103-years of history, are passionate about memory and history and the opportunity for more people to experience the life of an encyclopedic personality combining many talents."

The Director of the Inter-University Center for Career Development Atanas Dimitrov and Assoc. Prof. Petar Parvanov - the author of the book about Prof. Stefan S. Bobchev

Assoc. Prof. Petar Parvanov shared that he had worked on the book for 5 years studying various sources about the life and activities of Prof. Stefan S. Bobchev. The author divides his life into two stages - one covers his formation, the other - the stage of maturity when he realized his ideas in the political, social, scientific and journalistic arena.

Bulgarian Book Association, partner of the event, greeted the organizers of the University Week of the Book and wished it to become a national event, to confirm as one of the initiatives for the development of literacy among young people. "Because investments in books, literacy and education have a fourfold economic return and have proven their positive effect on the economy of each country that invests in books, education and science", is said in an address by Desislava Alexieva, Chairwoman of the Bulgarian Book Association.

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