Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 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

Кирил Петков

Acting Prosecutor-General Borislav Sarafov requests lifting of Kiril Petkov's immunity

Acting Bulgarian Prosecutor-General Borislav Sarafov has asked Parliament to lift the immunity of Kiril Petkov, an MP and co-leader of the People's Party (PP). The reason is the arrest of GERB leader Boyko Borissov in 2022, which was later declared..

published on 12/9/24 6:00 PM

Bulgaria’s full Schengen membership is on the agenda of the 12 December EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting

The decision to scrap Schengen border checks by land for Bulgaria and Romania has been included as the first item on the agenda of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on Thursday, 12 December. Bulgaria joins Schengen area by air..

published on 12/9/24 3:31 PM
Atanas Atanasov (L) and Ivaylo Mirchev from Democratic Bulgaria

Democratic Bulgaria calls for the formation of a regular cabinet

Democratic Bulgaria has issued a position stating that an attempt must be made to form a government within the current parliament so as to avoid one more early election and a further deepening of the crisis of parliamentary democracy...

published on 12/9/24 1:21 PM