Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Actress Adriana Budevska and why they called her Bulgaria’s Sarah Bernhardt

Photo: archive

Adriana Budevska has gone down in the history of Bulgarian theatre with her more than 100 different roles, but also for being “saucy” enough to be the first Bulgarian actress to appear on stage scantily clad.

The future star of theatre was born in Dobrich in 1878 just months after the country’s liberation from Ottoman domination. After studying abroad where she honed her acting skills, Budevska returned to Bulgaria and joined the company of the National Theatre, where she was dubbed, in due time, “Bulgaria’s Sarah Bernhardt”.

Today her home in Sofia’s Lozenets neighbourhood offers space for different kinds of artistic activities while preserving the memory of the renowned actress who contributed so much to the creation of professional theatre in Bulgaria. 

More about Adriana Budevska HERE

Compiled by Diana Tsankova



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Nikola Stanchev

95 years since the birth of the first Bulgarian Olympic champion Nikola Stanchev

On September 11, 1930, in the village of Tvarditsa, Burgas region, Nikola Stanchev Nikolov was born.  A freestyle and classical wrestler, in 1956 he won the first Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling in the 79 kg category  in Melbourne..

published on 9/11/25 9:33 AM

Celebrating the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in “The Seven Thrones” Monastery

On September 8, when the Bulgarian Orthodox Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Nativity of the Holy Theotokos), we take a look at the beautiful valley of Gabrovnitsa River and the Monastery of the Holy Theotokos, better..

published on 9/8/25 2:55 PM

Priceless exhibits chronicle the Unification proclaimed 140 years ago in Plovdiv

It was 1883 when construction began in Plovdiv on the building of the Regional Assembly of Eastern Rumelia, based on a design by architect Pietro Montani. Eastern Rumelia was an autonomous Bulgarian province within the Ottoman Empire and one of the..

published on 9/5/25 6:40 PM