Zheni Bojilova-Pateva

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Overview

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Zheni (Jeni) Bojilova-Pateva born Gradets, Kolensko, Bulgaria December 1, 1878 (d. 1955). Bulgarian peace activist and women’s leader. Attended International Peace Congress, 1915. Founded national branch of International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace, 1918; joined WILPF, 1919. First Bulgarian woman to oppose death penalty, 1923. Founded Women’s Peace Society, Bourgos, 1925.

Quotations

“In this hour when the world is surrounded by the bloody elements, when most of the European nations have risen against each other for an awful self-destruction, when cultured and civilized Europe organized all her forces for annihilation and death, in this hour comes an apparition. . . This is the dawn of a new creative force, isolated till now, the dawn of woman's genius, the genius of love and mercy.” (April 12, 1915, WILPF, Bericht Rapport p. 187; photo momichetka)