Ei-iE

Education International and the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) have learned with shock and sadness of the passing of Kounka Damianova (66), who led the International Department of the Bulgarian Teachers’ Union (SEB) for many years. Ms Damianova died suddenly at SEB’s headquarters in Sofia on 4 August, only days after returning from EI’s 7th World Congress in Ottawa.

‘Kounka was not only a dedicated and skillful trade union activist, who played an important role in bringing the education unions of Central and Eastern Europe together in EI, but also a warm and generous friend and comrade who will be missed sorely,’ noted Fred van Leeuwen, EI General Secretary.

Ms Damianova was also the current Chair of ETUCE’s Standing Committee for Equality. She was previously a Vice President of ETUCE. In addition to her keen interest in equal opportunities work, she was an expert in occupational health and safety issues.

Ms Damianova started her career as a French teacher in Bulgaria. She later served the Bulgarian Education Ministry as an inspector for foreign language teaching and teaching materials for four years. She also taught French literature at an Anglophone university in Bulgaria for 15 years.

Martin Rømer, ETUCE’s European Regional Director, will attend Ms Damianova’s funeral at St. Sedmochislenitsi Church in Sofia in the morning of 7 August.