page_title: Jeni Bojilova-Pateva
section_title: Later career (1925–1945)
hierarchical_section_title: Jeni Bojilova-Pateva / Career / Later career (1925–1945)
caption_attribution_description: Български: Дом на писателя, Бургас
context_page_description: Jeni Bojilova-Pateva, also transliterated as Zheni Bozhilova-Pateva, was a Bulgarian teacher, writer, women's rights activist, and suffragist, who became involved in the pacifist movement. After graduating with teaching credentials in 1893, she began her profession, but was barred from teaching when a law was passed in 1898 that limited the rights of married women. She turned to activism and journalism, becoming involved in the international women's movement that year. A highly prominent feminist, she was one of the founders of the Bulgarian Women's Union in 1901. During 1905 in Burgas, she founded "Self-Awareness", a feminist group, and served as its chair for 25 years. As editor of the Women's Voice she published articles on developments in the women's movement in Bulgaria and abroad, as well as about issues affecting women. Throughout her career, she published over 500 articles and books.
  A believer in women's suffrage, Pateva participated in numerous international conferences and frequently served as speaker at congresses.
context_section_description: In 1925, after 20 years as the chair of Самосъзнание, Pateva resigned over the ideological stance that members and the parent Bulgarian Women's Union had taken to support the dictatorial fascist regime of Aleksandar Tsankov and his white terror policies against intellectuals and political opponents. The following year, she organized the Женско миротворно общество в България (Women's Peace Society in Bulgaria), which she chaired until 1944. The organization actively opposed exile and repression by authorities. During the next decades, she worked at writing articles for the Вестник на жената (Women's Journal) and attending women's and peace conferences. She attended the Tenth Congress of the IWSA held in Paris in May 1926 and in July was in Dublin to attend the WILPF Congress. In 1927 Pateva spoke at the International League for Women for Peace and Liberty meeting in Gland, Switzerland and attended the International Federation of University Women Conference in Geneva in 1929; the Belgrade Peace Conference in May 1931; the War Resisters' International conference in Lyon in August 1931; the Universal Peace Congress hosted in Paris in 1937; and both in 1939 and 1940, she attended events in Rotterdam.
  Throughout her career, Pateva spoke at more than 100 public lectures and published approximately 500 articles and books on the topics of women's rights, pacifism, and vegetarianism, to which she adhered. In 1931, she was awarded an honorary membership in the French branch of the Union internationale des écrivains révolutionnaires (International Union of Revolutionary Writers). Her home was a gathering place for prominent Bulgarian public figures and intellectuals, including Alexander Balabanov, Adriana Budevska, Petko Rosen, Nikola Sakarov, Aleksandar Stamboliyski, Naycho Tsanov, and Asen Zlatarov. In 1944, a second coup d'état brought in a communist regime, which implemented state socialism, giving women the vote, yet simultaneously abolishing women's and other grassroots organizations.
  In 1945, Pateva approached the Minister of National Education and Culture asking for permission to form the Свободно народно прогресивно културно огнище Самосъзнание (Free People's Progressive Cultural Center of Self-Knowledge). She stated that the intent of the self-supporting organization would be to provide women and youth opportunities to improve their talents and develop skills to engage in cultural activities that would benefit the Bulgarian people. Her request was denied and the authorities declared the Patev family enemies of the people for their wealth and status as part of the Burgas elite. In 1947, when Nikola Petkov's death sentence was announced, Pateva sent correspondence to Georgi Dimitrov and Vasil Kolarov, demanding that the legislature abolish the death penalty. The letter produced dire consequences when both her home and her son Bozhan's factory were nationalized. Left without means of support, she wrote the government asking for a pension, which was denied.
caption: Writers' House, Burgas
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