Ekaterina Ivanova Mihaylova (, born 24 October 1956) 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 ...

n politician, who was the leader of the UDF between 2001 and 2002.

Life

Mihaylova was born in

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the centre of Pazardzhik Province and Pazardzhik Municipality. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain and in the Pazardzhik-Plovdiv Field, a ...

, in the family of a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

. She graduated from

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 ...

in 1978 with a degree in legal studies and started working as an attorney in 1980. Her political career began in the 1990s when she gained prominence as a member of the UDF. Alongside

Yordan Sokolov Yordan Sokolov, ( Bulgarian: Йордан Соколов) sometimes spelled as Jordan Sokolov (18 January 1933 – 24 February 2016) was a Bulgarian jurist and politician, Minister of Internal affairs from 1991 to 1992, three mandates as an MP fro ...

, she is considered to be among the staunchest supporters of

Ivan Kostov Ivan Yordanov Kostov ( ) (born 23 December 1949) is a Bulgarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 1997 to 2001. A member of the SDS party, which he led from 1994 to 2001, he was previously Minister of Finance from 1990 ...

and his policies. In June 2001, Mihaylova succeeded Kostov as the leader of the UDF, but in March 2002 lost her position to Nadezhda Mihaylova at the 13th national conference of the party. In 2004 she became one of the founders of the DSB. Mihaylova has been a member of five National Parliaments. On 6 November 2007, she was honored with the academic title "honorary professor of

New Bulgarian University New Bulgarian University (, also known and abbreviated as НБУ, NBU) is a private university based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Its campus is in the western district of the city, known for its proximity to the Vitosha nature park. The university also ...

" for her significant contributions to the development of the theoretical and practical aspects of Bulgarian parliamentarism.

References

Books

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mihaylova, Ekaterina 1956 births Living people People from Pazardzhik Union of Democratic Forces (Bulgaria) politicians 20th-century Bulgarian lawyers 20th-century Bulgarian women politicians Members of the National Assembly (Bulgaria) Sofia University alumni Bulgarian women lawyers 21st-century Bulgarian women politicians 21st-century Bulgarian politicians 20th-century women lawyers