The farewell ceremony for Vezhdi Rashidov will take place on November 12 at 11:00 a.m. at the Ivan Vazov National Theatre in Sofia. Relatives, friends, colleagues and representatives of cultural and public life will gather to pay their final respects to the sculptor, public figure and politician.
Vezhdi Rashidov died on November 6, 2026, at the age of 74 after a brief illness. The news of the farewell ceremony was announced by his relatives, while the National Assembly honored his memory with a minute of silence.
Artistic Career and International Recognition
Rashidov was born on December 14, 1951, in Dimitrovgrad. He graduated from the Iliya Petrov School of Fine Arts in Sofia, and in 1978 received a degree in sculpture from the National Academy of Art, where his teacher was Prof. Dimitar Daskalov.
In 1981, he won the Vatican’s Dante Alighieri Grand Prize in Ravenna for his work “The Gate of Paradise.” In 2004, he was elected a corresponding member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Among his best-known works are the monuments “John Lennon” and “The Key to Sofia.” He also created the statuettes for the Golden Rose awards at the film festival in Varna and the Sirak Skitnik awards of the Bulgarian National Radio. His works have been displayed in exhibitions in Bulgaria and abroad and are held in museum and private collections across Europe, Asia and North America.
Two Terms as Minister of Culture
Vezhdi Rashidov’s political career began in 2009, when he was elected as a member of parliament from GERB. He served as minister of culture in Boyko Borisov’s first and second governments, and later headed the parliamentary Committee on Culture and Media.
On October 21, 2022, Rashidov was elected speaker of the 48th National Assembly and remained in office until February 2023. The parliament’s chronology lists the period of his speakership as October 19, 2022 – February 2, 2023.
Following his death, National Assembly Speaker Michaela Dotsova said: “Freedom gave wings not only to Vezhdi Rashidov’s talent, but also to every one of his thoughts and actions.” She described him as “the great Bulgarian artist and distinguished Bulgarian sculptor,” a minister of culture in two governments and speaker of the 48th National Assembly.
The final tribute to Vezhdi Rashidov will take place at the Ivan Vazov National Theatre on November 12.