Victoria Angelova

Victoria Angelova Vinarova (sometimes written Viktoria Angelova, , 1902–1947) was one of the first female architects of Bulgaria. She is credited with having built the first modern, national art gallery in the Balkans.

Biography Victoria Angelova was born on 20 November 1902 in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria to Vasil Angelov, a merchant who had been educated in England. He named his daughter after Queen Victoria in homage. She graduated from the Vienna University of Technology and the Dresden Polytechnic in 1924, seven years after Maria Luisa Doseva-Georgieva earned her license. At the age of 24, she returned to Sofia and was working as an intern at the Ministry of Public Works when she won a contest for her first major commission. In 1933, Angelova married a fellow architect, Boris Vinarov and they set up a practice in Sofia. In 1944, the couple's home was bombed and they lost many of their personal effects, including their architectural drawings. They evacuated to Turnovo, where Angelova became ill with a severe case of pneumonia. Believing she had recovered, they returned to Sofia in 1946, but Angelova relapsed When completed, the building was recognized as the first modern, national art gallery in the Balkans.

Sea Casino of Burgas Sea Casino, Burgas In 1936, Atanas Sirekov, the mayor of Burgas, initiated a design contest for a casino on Burgas Bay. Seventeen architects competed and Angelova won with a design she called "333". The building required a complex design due to the steep slope of the site and its panoramic view of the entire gulf area. Completed in 1938, the inauguration was attended by dignitaries from throughout the country, who received a special travel discount of 70% off the price of train tickets to attend. The building was abandoned in the late 1990s, but after almost 20 years of neglect, was restored and opened as a cultural center in 2011. The renovation project won the “Building of the Year” award for 2011.

Raduntsi Lung Hospital In 1937 after a lengthy study had taken place, an act was passed for the construction of a tubercular sanatorium in the village of . The Pulmonary Hospital was to be the largest facility of its kind in the Balkans and located 650 meters above sea level. Angelova won the contract for the construction of the hospital and building was to begin shortly before World War II started.

Works 1926 Museum of Natural History, Clinic for Skin and Venereal Diseases at the Medical Academy and the second surgery of the Alexander Hospital. 1939-1955 The Raduntsi Lung Hospital "Father Paisii" Mathematics High School at #61 Iskar Street, Sofia "Vasil Drumev" Mathematics School in Veliko Tarnovo