Anna Karima, née ''Todora Velkova'' (1871–1949), was a Bulgarian writer, translator, editor and journalist, suffragist and women's rights activist. She was co-founder of the

Bulgarian Women's Union The Bulgarian Women's Union (Bulgarian: ''Български женски съюз,'' 'Balgarski Zhenski Sayuz' \'b&l-gar-ski 'zhen-ski s&-'yuz\), was a women's rights organisation active in Bulgaria from 1901 to 1944. In 1901, the organisation w ...

, and served as its chairperson from 1901 to 1906. She was the daughter of wheat trader Todor Velkov and worked as a teacher. In 1888, she married socialist

Yanko Sakazov Yanko Ivanov Sakazov ( bg, Янко Иванов Сакъзов; 24 September 1860 – 2 February 1941Heumos, Peter. Europäischer Sozialismus im Kalten Krieg: Briefe und Berichte 1944 - 1948'. Frankfurt/Main .a. Campus-Verl, 2004. p. 55) was a ...

. She debuted and became known as a writer in 1891. In 1894, the family moved to Sofia, where she became active within social reform. In 1897, she founded the society ''Suznanie'' ("Conscience") and started to campaign for women's education, one of which was to have the

University of Sofia Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" at the University of Sofia, ( bg, Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, ''Sofijski universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“'') is the oldest higher education i ...

open to women. From 1899, she edited the paper ''Zhenski glas'' ("Female voice") with Julia Malinova, and in 1901, they co-founded the Bulgarian Women's Union with Karima as its first chairperson. The organization was an umbrella organization of the 27 local women's organisations that had been established in Bulgaria since 1878. It was founded as a reply to the limitations of women's education and access to university studies in the 1890s, with the goal to further women's intellectual development and participation, arranged national congresses and used ''Zhenski glas'' as its organ. In 1906, she left the Bulgarian Women's Union. She founded the rival women's organization ''Ravnopravie'' ("Equal rights", 1908-1921) and toured the country lecturing on women's rights reform. In 1918, she opened the first day care center for working mothers in Bulgaria. She was exiled for political reasons from 1921 to 1928.

References

* Francisca de Haan, Krasimira Daskalova & Anna Loutfi
Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms in Central, Easterna and South Eastern Europe, 19th and 20th centuries
Central European University Press, 2006 * Blanca Rodriguez Ruiz & Ruth Rubio-Marín
The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe: Voting to Become Citizens
2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Karima, Anna 1871 births 1949 deaths Bulgarian women's rights activists Bulgarian feminists 19th-century Bulgarian people Bulgarian suffragists 19th-century Bulgarian women