Born on December 4 1881, in Plovdiv to Georgi Konsulov and Ana Hadjipenyova, Elisaveta grew up in a family that valued ambition and resilience. Her father, Georgi, was a merchant, a companion of the revolutionary Vasil Levski, and chairman of the Secret Revolutionary Committee in Pazardzhik, founded in 1869. For his activism, he was exiled to Izmir, Asia Minor. Georgi supported Elisaveta's talent and encouraged her dream of becoming an artist.
Few women in Bulgarian history are as exceptional as Elisaveta Konsulova-Vazova. Her long and fulfilling life spanned several historical eras and dramatic events, yet she always managed to achieve her aspirations. What’s more, she accomplished many groundbreaking feats in Bulgaria.
She met her future husband, Lieutenant Boris Vazov (the youngest son of the prominent Vazov family), at a literary reading and fell in love. Her parents opposed the relationship because Boris wasn’t wealthy and couldn’t provide a stable life for her. However, Elisaveta refused to give up on her love. For seven years, while Boris studied in Paris, they exchanged letters, smuggling their correspondence through friends. Eventually, their families relented, and in 1906, the two were married. Elisaveta retained her maiden name, adopting the surname Konsulova-Vazova after the wedding—a bold and emancipatory move for the early 20th century.
At age 16, Elisaveta enrolled in the Drawing School (now the National Academy of Arts) in the class of Jaroslav Veshin. At the time, there were only two female students, and she often became the subject of public scrutiny, as such a situation was unheard of. In 1902, she graduated from the second class of the Drawing School, specializing in painting, becoming the first woman to complete the institution. She was also the first woman allowed to paint the nude human figure from life.
Moreover, Elisaveta was the first Bulgarian female artist to depict nude subjects at all. Her free-spirited nature could not tolerate the discriminatory teaching methods toward the few women in the school, so she approached the director - Professor Ivan Mrkvička, and successfully persuaded him to change the curriculum. Thanks to her efforts, female students were granted access to life drawing classes instead of practicing exclusively with plaster casts—a small victory by today’s standards but a monumental one in the early 20th century.
Elisaveta dreamed of continuing her education in Europe—a seemingly unattainable goal for her time. Remarkably, this dream came true with the support of her husband and even a kind letter from her notoriously strict mother-in-law Baba Saba Vazova, wishing her success. Between 1909 and 1910 Elisaveta moved to Munich with her two young children—two-year-old Elka and four-month-old Binka—accompanied by their housemaid Petra. There, she specialized in portrait painting at the “Women Artists’ Society” and completed a course with Professor H. Knirr, who praised her work highly.
European critics also lauded her art, nicknaming her the "Mother of Flowers" because of her fondness for floral themes. She returned to Bulgaria the following year and gave birth to her third child, Anna (Niusi).
Her first solo exhibition was held in Sofia in 1919—the first solo exhibition by a female artist in Bulgaria. Subsequent exhibitions took place in Prague (1931), Pilsen and Bratislava (1932). She painted numerous portraits in a style reminiscent of the Impressionists, often working outdoors. Her preferred mediums included pastels, oils, and watercolors.
Many prominent figures of the time sat for her portraits, including Stoyan Mihaylovski, Boris Vazov, Hristo Stambolski, Dobri Hristov, Ivan Vazov, Alexander Bozhinov, Kiril Hristov, and architect Atanas Donkov. She also painted portraits of Bulgarian actors such as Dragomir Kazakov, Elena Khranova, Marta Popova, Irina Taseva, and Spas Dzhonev, as well as members of her family and other notable personalities. Among her close friends were Mrkvička, Sirak Skitnik, Princess Evdokia, Mara Belcheva, Elin Pelin, and Alexander Balabanov.
Elisaveta was one of the founders of the "Native Art" society and took part in public activities as the editor of the magazine Beseda (1934–1940) and Dom i Svyat (1940–1943), a publication dedicated to domestic culture, literature, and art, where she served as its first editor-in-chief. She contributed to magazines like Hudojnik and Izkustvo, writing critical articles on Bulgarian and Western European visual art.
She also helped establish puppet theater in Bulgaria.She also collected traditional embroidery, carpets, jewelry, and costumes, and studied the natural dyes used by traditional rug weavers. In addition to translating from German and English, she wrote so well that the Bulgarian Women Writers’ Club invited her to join as a member.
Elisaveta lived to celebrate her golden wedding anniversary with her beloved husband and painted until her final days, even as her eyesight failed. In 1961 she was awarded the "Cyril and Methodius" Order, First Class and in 1965 she passed away surrounded by her family.
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