Bogdan Bogdanov

Bogdan Bogdanov (2 November 1940 – 5 August 2016) was a Bulgarian classical philologist, culturologist, translator, public intellectual, and university professor. He was the founder and first president of New Bulgarian University (NBU), one of the leading private universities in Bulgaria, and a long-time professor of ancient Greek literature and culture at Sofia University.^[1]

Bogdanov was born in Sofia on 2 November 1940. He graduated in Classical Philology from Sofia University in 1963. He later specialized at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 1978 and at the University of Amsterdam in 1984.^[2]

Bogdanov was among the leading Bulgarian scholars in the fields of classical philology, ancient Greek culture, hermeneutics, and cultural studies. He authored numerous books, essays, and translations from Ancient Greek into Bulgarian. His scholarly work focused on ancient literature, myth, oral culture, and the philosophy of reading.^[3]

Following the fall of communism in Bulgaria, Bogdanov became one of the prominent intellectual advocates for educational reform and liberal arts education in Bulgaria. In 1990 he co-founded the Society for a New Bulgarian University and participated in the establishment of the Bulgarian branch of the Open Society Fund.^[4]

In 1991, after a resolution by the Bulgarian Parliament, Bogdanov founded New Bulgarian University, the first private university in post-communist Bulgaria, and served as its president and later chairman of the Board of Trustees.^[5]

Between 1991 and 1993, Bogdanov served as Ambassador of Bulgaria to Greece.^[6]

In 2010, documents released by the Bulgarian Commission for Dossiers revealed that Bogdanov had collaborated with the Sixth Directorate of the State Security services between 1978 and 1988.^[7]

Bogdanov published extensively in Bulgarian on classical antiquity, philosophy, literature, and culture theory. Among his better-known books are studies on ancient Greek culture, myth, and reading practices.

In 2010, Bogdanov's book Reading and its Functioning: From Ancient Greek Literature to the Modern World was published in Berlin.^[8]

En 2016, el Consejo de Administración de la Nueva Universidad Búlgara estableció el Premio de Humanidades Bogdan Bogdanov en memoria de Bogdanov. ^{[ 9 ]} Este premio nacional anual reconoce los logros sobresalientes en humanidades, cultura, artes, educación y vida pública en Bulgaria, reflejando los valores intelectuales y cívicos asociados con la obra y el legado de Bogdanov. El premio se entrega tradicionalmente alrededor del 2 de noviembre, fecha del nacimiento de Bogdanov. ^{[ 10 ]}

Entre los destinatarios del premio se encuentran el poeta Boris Hristov (2017), el historiador literario Mihail Nedelchev (2018), la actriz Snezhina Petrova y el clasicista Georgi Gochev (2019), el director de orquesta Nayden Todorov (2020), el sociólogo Georgy Fotev (2021), el filósofo y fotógrafo Tsocho Boyadzhiev (2022), la cantante de ópera Raina Kabaivanska (2023), el neurólogo Ivaylo Tarnev (2024) y la escritora Theodora Dimova (2025). ^{[ 11 ]}

Bogdanov murió en Sofía el 5 de agosto de 2016 a la edad de 75 años. ^{[ 12 ]}

• Sitio web personal de Bogdan Bogdanov
• Premio de Humanidades Bogdan Bogdanov