January 31 is Vanga's birthday. Clairvoyance is a big part of Vangelia Gushterova's life, but who was she behind the scenes of her worldwide fame?
Grandma Vanga is a 20th century Bulgarian phenomenon. Many believe that she possessed a unique gift of clairvoyance, could foresee the lives of people and important events in the world. Vangelia Gushterova attracted tourists to Bulgaria from all over the world and became a kind of "attraction". In the last years of her life, a hotel was even built not far from the house of the seer. Vanga sometimes did not receive visitors for months, and there people were waiting for her invitation.
Vangelia Gushterova died in 1996 due to breast cancer, but her name is still remembered. Her real and fake prophecies are discussed on television from year to year. “Godchildren” and “nephews” appear regularly, who supposedly suddenly remembered previously unknown predictions. Interest in the personality of Vanga's grandmother is only growing.
But who was this woman in ordinary life? The true biography of the clairvoyant is considered the brochure "Wang", written by her niece Krasimira Stoyanova in 1989. In honor of the birthday of the Bulgarian celebrity, 5-tv.ru tells her biography and interesting facts.
Childhood Vanga
Vangelia was born on January 31, 1911 in the city of Strumica, which is located in modern North Macedonia and borders Bulgaria and Greece. Her parents, Pande and Paraskeva Surchev, were landowners, but her mother died when Vanga was about two years old. During the second Balkan War, the girl's father was mobilized, he had to leave his daughter for temporary education to neighbors. When Pande returned to Strumica, he married a second time to a fellow villager who was much younger than him. In marriage, two boys and a girl were born: brothers and sister Vanga.
Strumica in 1932.
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At the age of 12, Vanga lost her eyesight under strange circumstances. The most popular version is the story of a tornado that carried the girl several meters away. When they found her, Vanga's eyes were filled with sand. There is also information that Wang was raped and gouged out her eyes.
The father and stepmother tried to restore Vangelia's eyesight and raised money for treatment, but they were not enough for an expensive operation, the girl completely went blind at the age of 16. On the advice of the village environment, the parents decided to send their daughter to the house of the blind in the Serbian town of Zemun. There, the blind were looked after and taught the necessary skills. In this house, Wanga learned to cook, knit, play the piano and read Braille. But three years later, the girl received terrible news from Strumica: during the next birth, her stepmother died, the father asked his daughter to return home to help with the children and with the housework.
Men and children of Vanga
Not much is known about the personal life of Vangelia. While studying in a home for the blind, she fell in love with a classmate from a wealthy family and almost married him, but her father took her home. Wang married Dimitar Gushterov at the age of 31. Her husband took her to Petrich, where Vanga lived for the rest of her life. Vanga and Dimitar lived in marriage for 40 years, until Dimitar's death from drunkenness in 1962.
Vanga did not have any children, but after the death of her husband, she adopted the boy Dimitra and the girl Violetta. They grew up and received a good education. Violetta married a wealthy person, and her son became one of the founders of the Vanga Foundation and works as a prosecutor in Petrich.
Opening the gift of Vanga
For the first time about the gift of clairvoyance of the Vangel, they spoke in the 1940s. Then people from all over the village came to her to interpret dreams and tell fortunes. It is rumored that Wanga did not tell the information with her female voice, but with her male voice. It is believed that Wanga predicted World War II a year before it started. The clairvoyant claimed that it was during this period that she began to hear voices and fell into a trance for the first time.
Wang.
At first, Vanga hid her gift: she told only relatives about him. First, she was afraid that she would be considered crazy. Secondly, Vangelia was an Orthodox Christian, and religion denies supernatural abilities and considers them demonic. But during the war years, she told women about the fate of their front-line husbands, and the people of Vanga believed. Soon they learned about her outside the city and people went to her in droves. Up to 130 people could visit it per day. During her life, Wang's grandmother talked with about a million people.
How much did a visit to grandmother Vanga cost?
Vanga was a civil servant and received a salary. In 1967, the Bulgarian authorities created a special civil service that kept order in her house in Petrich. In addition, an official price was set for a visit to a clairvoyant: 10 levs were taken from residents of Bulgaria and other countries of the socialist camp, and 50 dollars from foreign capitalists. Personally, Vanga did not take money into her hands, but received a salary of 200 leva. Before that, she accepted everyone free of charge, but did not refuse gifts. Usually grandmother Vanga was taken whiskey, she loved to sip it, but very little.
Still from the TV series "Vangelia", 2013.
Because of the price list for the services of a clairvoyant and the role of the state, her gift has been repeatedly criticized. According to skeptics, Vangelia Gushterova received all information about her visitors from taxi drivers, hotel and restaurant workers. The Vanga phenomenon brought in a huge income. Tourists visited Bulgaria in droves and rushed to Petrich for predictions.
Author: Yana Vakhrusheva
