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

120 years since the birth of the inventor of the computer

President Radev to award winners of the John Atanasoff Presidential Award

Atanasoff was of Bulgarian origin

John Vincent Atanasoff (1903 – 1995) inventor of the Atanasoff–Berry Computer.
Photo: Archive

At a special ceremony at the Presidential Palace today, Head of State Rumen Radev will present awards to the winners of the John Atanasov Presidential Award for 2023. The award ceremony will be held on the day marking the 120th anniversary of the birth of the famous inventor of Bulgarian origin and creator of the first electronic computer with regenerative memory. The awards will be presented for the 21st time to pupils, students and young Bulgarian scientists who have shown outstanding results in the field of computer science.

John Vincent Atanasoff was born on October 4, 1903 near Hamilton, New York. His father, Ivan Atanasov, was a Bulgarian immigrant born in the village of Boyadzhik, Yambol region, then in the Ottoman Empire. Ivan's parents died in 1876, at the height of the April Uprising, so in 1889, at the age of 13, he emigrated to America with his uncle. He met John's Iva Lucena Purdy, an English teacher from upstate New York, and they got married in in 1900, following John’s graduation from Colgate College with a degree in philosophy.

Ivan and Lucena's son John became interested in mathematics and logarithms at an early age. He was later recognized as the inventor of the computer. More information on the subject can be found here.



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

Dead calm waters along Black Sea coast, sunbathers should be cautious

In recent days, there have been several fatal incidents of tourists drowning on the Southern Black Sea coast, reports BNT.  The strong northeast wind and dead current pose risks to life, especially for inattentive tourists.  On most..

published on 8/14/25 11:33 AM

Podkrepa trade union warns of a growing budget deficit

The growing risk of a high deficit ahead of the current and next budget requires timely, wise and sustainable decisions that should not lead to impoverishment of people, but to promoting the economy , states the Podkrepa Confederation of Lbour trade..

published on 8/14/25 11:19 AM

Fire near Kardzhali Dam poses threat to nearby villages

All night long, fire brigade teams and forest officials made every effort to prevent the large forest fire that broke out yesterday in the late afternoon near the Kardzhali Dam from spreading to the nearby villages of Ridovo and Snezhinkite. The fire..

published on 8/14/25 9:47 AM