Albena Simeonova (born 1964) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

. She is a key figure in the opposition to the Bulgarian

Belene Belene ( ) is a town in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Belene Municipality. The town is situated on the right bank of the Danube river, close to the town of Svishtov. Geography Locati ...

nuclear power plant.

Education / Profession

Albena Simeonova studied at the

Sofia University Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria. Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...

specializing in Biology and Chemistry. She completed a postgraduate degree with work in Ecology. She spent several years teaching at the secondary school level. From 1991 she worked as Senior Ecologist for the

Botevgrad Botevgrad ( ) is a town in western Bulgaria. It is located in Sofia Province and is close to Pravets. Botevgrad lies 47 km from Sofia. History and name The village was called Samundzhievo (Самунджиево) until it was elevated to ...

council administration. She served as the Executive Director of the Foundation for Ecological Education and Training in Sofia from 1994 to 1996, this was next to serving as the Vice chair of the Bulgarian Green Party. Since 1999 she has worked in the agricultural sector, being a pioneer of the organic movement in Bulgaria. In 2017, her exploitation extended on 275 hectares of organic cultures, which included cereals, vegetal farming and vineyards. In 2009, she founded the ''Bulgaria’s Association of Bioproducers'', of which she is president''.'' She is also the Chair of the Foundation for Environment and Agriculture.

Environmental Activities

Albena Simeonova was one of the first members of the Bulgarian Ekoglasnost environmental organisation in 1987. She founded the Bulgarian Green Party in 1991. In 1996 Simeonova co-founded the Bulgarian Green Federation.

Death threats

Her protest activities lead to serious threats. Starting 16 December 2004, Albena received the first of many anonymous telephone calls threatening to kill her if she would not stop her cooperation with Greenpeace and her resistance against Belene Nuclear Power Plant.Greenpeace
/ref> The death threats triggered an international cyberaction in support of Albena's safety which was supported by

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

in cooperation with Bankwatch,

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...

Europe, WISE, ELAW and the Goldman Foundation. It resulted in police protection. Additional private protection was organised with support from the Goldman Foundation and Greenpeace.

Awards and honors

She was awarded the

Goldman Environmental Prize The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists. History Awardees are named from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, an ...

in 1996 for her initiatives to address environmental issues in Bulgaria. In 1997 she received the

UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

Environmental Prize

References

Living people 1964 births Bulgarian environmentalists Goldman Environmental Prize awardees {{Bulgaria-bio-stub