Petya Parvanova ( bg, Петя Първанова) (born 12 July 1960) was the interior minister of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

for a brief period in 2013. She was the first woman to head the ministry in the country.

Early life and education

Parvanova was born in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

on 12 July 1960. She holds a bachelor's degree in

German philology German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German hi ...

, which she received from Sofia University in 1991. She received a master's degree in law from New Bulgarian University in 1998.

Career

From 1978 to 1981 Parvanova was an administrator at Balkantourist. From 1982 to 1991 she served as an interpreter at the East German embassy in Sofia. Later she worked as an assistant and translator at various companies. From 1999 to 2001 she served as the head of the international relations and protocol sector at the Prosecutor-General's office. In 2001, Purvanova was named as the deputy director at the same body, and later, she became the director of international cooperation at the interior ministry. She was promoted to the rank of police general. On 12 March 2013, she was appointed interior minister to the

caretaker government A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...

led by

Marin Raykov Marin Raykov Nikolov ( bg, Марин Райков Николов ; born 17 December 1960 in Washington, D.C., United States) is a Bulgarian politician and diplomat who was appointed to serve as a caretaker Prime Minister of Bulgaria and minister ...

. She became the first woman interior minister of Bulgaria. Her term ended on 29 May 2013 when

Tsvetlin Yovchev Tsvetlin Yovchev ( bg, Цветлин Йовчев) is a Bulgarian politician, who served in the security sector as a head of the DANS National Security State Agency in the Borisov Government and as a Minister of Interior in the Oresharski Gover ...

was appointed interior minister. For the duration of her service at the Ministry of the Interior, she was awarded many times for high performance service and professionalism with medals and honors – “for valor and merit”, first degree in 2007. In 2010 she was awarded with category A – senior commissioner. In March 2016 she was appointed Chairperson of the State Agency for Refugees with the Council of Ministers of Republic of Bulgaria. On May 9, 2019, she was awarded the Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parvanova, Petya 1960 births Living people Politicians from Sofia Sofia University alumni Bulgarian translators Women government ministers of Bulgaria Female interior ministers