Dimitrana Ivanova née Petrova was born on 1 February 1881 in
Ruse, Bulgaria. The daughter of a trader, she was educated in the local girls' school and high school for girls. During her time in
Bulgaria, women were only allowed to listen into lectures at the
University of Sofia from 1896, but could not be regular students there until 1901, and even then it remained difficult, as high schools for girls offered only six of the seven secondary grades required for university admission. Therefore, Dimitrana Ivanova was denied a place to study law in
Sofia on these grounds. However, she moved to
Switzerland to study education and philosophy at the
University of Zürich and became the first female to study there. After September 9, 1944, Dimitrana Ivanova's life took a dramatic turn. On September 28, 1944, she was arrested by the new
communist regime (People's Republic of Bulgaria) on suspicion of pro-German and pro-fascist sympathies due to her extensive contacts with
Germany. She was released after four months on the condition that she leave
Sofia and settled in
Ruse. She was a strong advocate for gender equality in education and for women's right to work as lawyers and judges. Therefore, under her presidency, two issues received particular attention: the permission for women to practice law, seen as a significant symbolic issue representing women's right to access other similar professions, and women's right to vote. Finally, after a lengthy fight, she became one of the first Bulgarian women to gain the right to work as a lawyer or a judge. Moreover, in 1937, married, divorced, and widowed women over the age of 21 gained the right to vote in municipal elections, although they were not allowed to run for office. It was the first step toward securing the right to vote for all women in 1944. From 1935 to 1940, she was a member of the board of the
International Alliance of Women. She became a well-known controversial figure in public debate and was frequently caricatured in the press. ==References==