Today starts the national celebrations of the 100th anniversary from the birth of the Father of the Computer, by unveiling a monument of John Atanassov in Sofia. The monument is located right outside the Telephone Chamber in Sofia; it is 6 meters high and it weighs 3 tons.
The celebrations are under the guardianship of the President of Bulgaria, Mr. Georgi Parvanov, and with the support of the US Embassy. The US guests, the relatives and the organizational committee will all visit the small village of Boyadzhik, in the Yambol region, where John Atanassov?s father (emigrated just 13-year-old to the USA) was born. The award for the best young computer scientist will also be handed in the town of Yambol. On Monday, October 5th, 2003, an international conference on computer technologies starts at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia.
Within the accompanying events, the Eurica Foundation will hand its annual grant on the name of John Atanassov, and along with Microsoft will carry a national programming contest. On the same occasion the Bulgarian Association for Informational Technologies (BAIT) is organizing the Fourth Inter-Balkan Forum on October 6th and 7th, at the National Historical Museum. The Forum will be officially opened by the President of Bulgaria and by John Atanassov?s son.
Among the 19 descendents of John Atanassov, coming for the anniversary celebrations, are two of his grandchildren ? Tamara Burton and Frederic Whistler. They both have applied for Bulgarian citizenship. ?I love spending more time in Bulgaria, I like the nature ? the sea and those mountains?, that is how Tamara explained her wish to officially become a Bulgarian citizen.