Prof. Biserka Penkova, PhD, celebrates her 70th anniversary

Prof. Biserka Penkova, PhD, celebrates her 70th anniversary today. On behalf of the Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Joanna Spassova-Dikova, PhD, sent a congratulatory address saying:
 
Dear Professor Penkova,
 
Please accept our warmest congratulations on your 70th anniversary!
We are proud that, as a long-time researcher at the Institute of Art Studies – BAS, you are also an internationally recognised specialist in art history from the Middle Ages and the pre-modern era in the Balkans. In the decades you have devoted to teaching at the National Academy of Art, the Sofia University, and the New Bulgarian University, you have built up several generations of specialists, the most talented of whom follow your legacy precisely at the Institute. In the turbulent period 2007–2021, you were the head of the Art Studies scientific journal, and with your care, it has preserved and strengthened its prestige as a unique academic periodical. You are a successful leader of numerous collective scientific projects with large-scale results in the form of valuable publications. It is sufficient to mention the so-called "Corpora" of the church frescoes in Bulgaria from the 16th and 17th centuries, containing complete documentation and research of the monuments preserved in our country from these centuries.
With all your scientific, teaching, and expert activities, you have made an exceptional contribution not only to the development of art studies and, respectively, of the humanities in Bulgaria, but also to the preservation and promotion of our cultural heritage and national identity.
We offer sincere respect and gratitude for your long, fruitful work and diligence in the name of science! May the good energy of this exciting festive moment of sharing and empathy accompany you for a long time. May it give you strength and charge to continue to create science and be an attractive figure and support for younger people, to motivate, inspire, and educate them as only you can!
For many years to come!
 
Sofia, 20 April 2025
Sincerely,
Prof. Joanna Spassova-Dikova, PhD, 
Director of the Institute of Art Studies – BAS