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Dr Maya Padeshka's mission: to introduce the Bulgarian language and culture to Italians

Italians have a genuine desire to learn about Bulgaria, the university lecturer says

Author:
Maya Padeshka
Photo: Facebook /The Department of Bulgarian as a Foreign Language at the University of Naples - "L'Orientale".

Dr Maya Padeshka is one of a number of university lecturers beyond Bulgaria's borders who have dedicated their lives to spreading Bulgarian culture and language. Six years ago she won a competition organised by the Ministry of Education and Science, which led to her appointment in Italy. Since then she has been a lecturer in Bulgarian at University of Naples "L'Orientale". At the same time, she serves as the headmistress of the Asen and Iliya Peikov Bulgarian School in Rome, where she also teaches.

Shortly after her arrival, the University hosted an international scientific conference on Slavic literatures, organised by Dr. Padeshka. Soon after, the Untold Stories of Bulgarians initiative published an Atlas of Cyril and Methodius, with texts written by students from Bulgarian schools in Italy. A documentary film was made about the artist Dora Nikolova Bittau, and students from the Asen and Iliya Peikov School translated and published a collection of poems by Petya Dubarova.



At the initiative of the school's founder, Veneta Nenkova, Maya Padeshka's students from Rome, in collaboration with students from the National Academy of Theatre and Film "Krastyo Sarafov", are filming "A Sense of Belonging", which will take part in this year's edition of the Sofia Film Festival.

In 2024, Dr Padeshka organised a research and analysis project on "Bulgaria in the Italian and Vatican Archives", in which her students took an active part.

"Most of our students are Italian, she said in an interview with Radio Bulgaria. In the six years I have been here, I have only had two students of Bulgarian descent. In the last few years, thanks to the new programmes of the Ministry of Education and Science, my students and I have worked intensively on various projects and I have realised that this is truly meaningful. Italians have a genuine desire to learn about Bulgaria, and they do so with great enthusiasm and interest."



But when Dr Maya Padeshka arrived in Italy, most young Italians knew almost nothing about Bulgaria and its culture, and "when a person does not know a country and its history, he develops stereotypes, which are not always positive - Dr Padeshka said, adding: "But when they come here, to Bulgaria, to the language summer schools at the universities, they really like it and start to love the country".

Veliko Tarnovo
"I have students who are so in love with the town of Veliko Tarnovo that they want to come here every year. Bulgaria and Italy are not only geographically close, there is something else - something that makes Italians really fall in love with our country and want to deepen their knowledge about it. Some of them are interested in our literature, others in political science, Balkan affairs, dialects, and our job as teachers is to open paths to our culture and to their professional development, which may end up in Bulgaria. It is good that there are good national programmes that make this possible. There is already a fairly large Italian community in Bulgaria, and there is a good academic job market for those who speak Bulgarian."



Even though she leads a busy life, Dr Maya Padeshka says she is no stranger to nostalgia, but she also reveals her own method of overcoming it: "When I start missing Bulgaria, I immediately organise a conference or some other event to meet colleagues and bring Bulgarian literature to Italy. We invite our contemporary writers, like Georgi Gospodinov, who was our guest recently, and also Bulgarian authors of children's and youth literature. This is the best way to overcome nostalgia abroad. This is how Bulgaria comes to me!"


Photos: Ministry of Education and Science, Facebook / Maya Padeshka, Pixabay
Posted in English by Elizabeth Radkova

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