The Women Students Section of BAUW

The Women Students Section was the fourth section of the Bulgarian Association of University Women (BAUW), created in 1937. It was formed in response to the growing number of female law students joining the BAUW. The Association had been observing these students for many years and, through a special commission, helped create a girls’ hostel in the capital in 1939.

Conflict with the Communist Women’s Movement

However, the members of the Women Students Section soon found themselves in competition with the Communist women’s movement, which wanted to take over the Section. This conflict likely led to the Section’s short existence, as it lasted only until 1945. During this time, the Section mainly focused on protesting the restrictions placed on women’s admission to some faculties at Sofia University. These restrictions were put in place by the university under pressure from the government between 1939 and 1941 Travel Bulgaria.

Communist Control Over Women’s Organizations

In September 1944, key political leaders, including Tsola Dragoycheva from the Fatherland Front and Georgi Dimitrov from the Communist Party, decided that women’s organizations in Bulgaria needed to become part of the state structure. As a result, all women’s organizations, including the BAUW, were placed under the control of two Zhenski otdeli (women’s departments) controlled by the communists.

Women members of the Communist Party and other coalition parties were ordered to replace the leadership of all feminist organizations, including the BAUW. As a result, in November 1944, the BAUW quickly changed its leadership.

Decline of the BAUW

After the leadership change, the BAUW’s activities became more political. Meetings that had once focused on feminist issues turned into propaganda sessions, where leading women communists spoke about topics such as Stalin, women in science in the USSR, and other political subjects. These meetings had very few attendees and were closely monitored by the Political Police, who collected personal information about the members.

The End of BAUW

The decline continued, and in 1948, the Bulgarian government confiscated the property of the BAUW, scattered its archives, and ended its organizational activities. By the middle of 1950, the BAUW was officially closed. Only older members of the organization informally discussed the idea of turning the BAUW into a Women’s Section within the Bulgarian Academy of Science, but this idea never came to fruition.