Albena Simeonova

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Albena Simeonowa ( Bulgarian Албена Симеонова ; * 1964 ) is a Bulgarian environmental activist . She became internationally known for her action against the Bulgarian nuclear power plant Belene .

Education / professional career

Albena Simeonowa studied biology and chemistry at Sofia University . In her postgraduate studies, she worked in the field of ecology. She worked for several years as a secondary school biology teacher.

Since 1991 she has worked as a senior ecologist for the Botevgrad district administration. From 1994 to 1996 she was the managing director of the Foundation for Ecological Education and Training in Sofia. This in addition to her role as vice-chairman of the Bulgarian party "The Greens".

She is one of the largest organic farmers in Bulgaria, her farm is around 12 km from the planned Belene nuclear power plant.

Environmental protection activities

Albena Simeonowa was one of the first members of the Bulgarian environmental organization Ekoglasnost in 1987. She founded the Bulgarian Green Party in 1991. In 1996 she was a co-founder of the Bulgarian Green Association.

Death threats

Their protest activities resulted in death threats. Beginning on December 16, 2004, Simeonowa received her first anonymous phone call in which she was threatened with death if she did not give up her cooperation with Greenpeace and the resistance against the Belene nuclear power plant.

The death threats sparked international support for the security of Simeonova. This was supported by Greenpeace in cooperation with Bankwatch , Friends of the Earth Europe, WISE, ELAW and the Goldman Foundation. The result was police protection for Simeonowa. Additional private protection was granted through support from the Goldman Foundation and Greenpeace.

Prizes and awards

She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1996 for her environmental initiatives in Bulgaria.

In 1997 she received the UNEP Environment Prize.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Albena Simeonova. United Nations Environment Program, archived from the original on August 26, 2009 ; accessed on February 23, 2015 (English, biography).
  2. ^ Death threats against Bulgarian Greenpeace activist. greenpeace.at, archived from the original on March 4, 2009 ; accessed on February 23, 2015 .
  3. ^ Albena Simeonova - Areas of Environmental Action: Law - Summary of Achievements. United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), accessed February 23, 2015 .
  4. ↑ a b c Albena Simeonova - Factsheet. Greenpeace.org, August 10, 2005, accessed February 23, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Simeonowa, Albena
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Симеонова, Албена (Bulgarian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bulgarian environmental activist
DATE OF BIRTH 1964