Elka Rouskov of Las Vegas, Nevada, is this year’s recipient of the Bulgarian Woman of the Year award, presented by the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad. Established in 2009 at the suggestion of historian Professor Plamen Pavlov, the award bears the name of St Zlata of Maglen, a young Bulgarian woman who was martyred under Ottoman rule for refusing to renounce her Christian faith.
Rayna Mandzhukova, the agency’s executive director, presented the award at the University of National and World Economy. The ceremony brought together artists, journalists and other guests.
“The Bulgarian Woman of the Year – St Zlata of Maglen award is a huge ‘thank you’ to all those Bulgarian women who devote their time, emotions and energy, not just once a year but all year round, 365 days a year, to keeping Bulgarians abroad together, to keeping them a community,” she said.
“Elka Rouskov is a patron and an inspiration for Bulgarian culture across the Atlantic. For many years, she has done far more than preserve traditions — she has turned them into a living home for the Bulgarian community, a space where language, music, folklore and literature bring people together and connect them with their homeland,” writes BG VOICE, a Chicago-based Bulgarian-language news outlet.
Rouskov’s support helps sustain cultural programmes and groups, including the Bulgarian Voices women’s choir in Seattle, the Seattle Cheta folk ensemble, the Medena Pitka children’s folk group and the Glagolnitsata literary circle.
She also supports the youngest members of the community. At her initiative, the Little Bulgarian School in Chicago holds a Bulgarian poetry recital competition called “Fair and Lovely, Fatherland”. Through it, children discover their Bulgarian roots and learn that belonging to Bulgaria is both an inheritance and a living connection.
Editor: Diana Tsankova