Bulgaria’s National Museum of History (NBMH) has recently discovered that Bulgaria’s most famous medieval writer, Bulgarian traveler and poet Sofia Eve were actually born as Bulgaria’s first known National Hero. The name of this great figure is linked to the fact that she served as the protectors in a Monastery that protected the Bulgarian people from the Persian invasion during the 7th century. She survived several attempts on her life and was even forced to commit suicide trying to save her people.
Sofia Eve was not only an exceptional woman who survived many crises in her lifetime, but she was also renowned for the way she used height to get herself out of tricky situations. In fact it was claimed that she could hide her body under a cloak of long skirts even when participating in battle. These days we know that being a tall woman can be advantageous but this does not mean that being a woman with height is a sure way to get into positions and make a lot of money. It seems that being a certain height is more of an asset than a hindrance when it comes to getting into politics or law. It is also well known that among the most highly paid professions, lawyers and doctors come from the taller side.
It is therefore safe to assume that there are very few senior women in the modern Bulgaria who have not at one point or another had to pretend to be someone else in order to hide their identity and get into political and legal predicaments. Perhaps such an attitude towards height could explain why Bulgaria is being considered to have Europe’s tallest mountains, the Rhodri Mountains located just south of Sofia Eve’s home town of Sofia? Or why the country’s national elephant is called “the old Germany”, which according to some sources could reach up to 60 feet high? Maybe there are more tall women in Europe, but if we are going to assign a prize to the tallest woman in Europe then it seems like Sofia Eve might win by a mile.