# Desislava Radeva

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**Desislava Kirilova Radeva**[a] (;[b] born 9 July 1969) is a Bulgarian public figure who served as the [First Lady of Bulgaria](/source/First_Lady_of_Bulgaria) from 2017 to 2026 as the wife of President [Rumen Radev](/source/Rumen_Radev).

## Early life and career

Born Desislava Gencheva in [Burgas](/source/Burgas) on 9 July 1969, she studied at the Geo Milev English Language School for [secondary school](/source/Secondary_school) before going on to the [University of National and World Economy](/source/University_of_National_and_World_Economy) in Finance and Credit. She also studied at the [University of Forestry, Sofia](/source/University_of_Forestry,_Sofia).[1] In her student years, she worked as an assistant to the Minister of Agriculture [Rumen Hristov](/source/Rumen_Hristov_(politician)). She continued her career as an office manager in TV shows such as *Kanaleto* and *Hushove*. She was subsequently responsible for public relations at the Bulgarian Music Company. Later, she became an assistant to the general manager of [Heineken](/source/Heineken) in Bulgaria. She took an active part in the [2016 Bulgarian presidential election](/source/2016_Bulgarian_presidential_election), campaigning for her then partner [Rumen Radev](/source/Rumen_Radev). In 2017, she founded a non-profit association called the "Living Water of Bulgaria", which carries out activities in the public interest.[2][3][4]

## Personal life

Radeva married her husband in 2016. She was previously married to [Georgi Svilenski](/source/Georgi_Svilenski), a Bulgarian engineer and member of the [National Assembly](/source/National_Assembly_(Bulgaria)) from the [Bulgarian Socialist Party](/source/Bulgarian_Socialist_Party) (BSP). She has one son from her 13-year marriage to Svilenski. Besides her native [Bulgarian language](/source/Bulgarian_language), she is also fluent in [English](/source/English_language) and [Russian](/source/Russian_language). She is a [Bulgarian Orthodox](/source/Bulgarian_Orthodox_Church).

## Honour

### Foreign honour

- [Italy](/source/Italy): Knight Grand Cross of the [Order of Merit of the Italian Republic](/source/Order_of_Merit_of_the_Italian_Republic) (17 April 2024)
- [Portugal](/source/Portugal): Grand Cross of the [Order of Merit](/source/Order_of_Merit_(Portugal)) (30 January 2019)

## References

1. Bulgarian: Десислава Кирилова Радева

1. Bulgarian: Генчева

1. ["Татяна Кристи: Деси Радева да си покаже дипломите | Мрежата"](https://tribune.bg/bg/mrezhata/tatyana-kristi-desi-radeva-da-si-pokazhe-diplomite). *Tribune.bg*. Retrieved 2019-05-25.

1. ["Бива ли Десислава Радева да пише такива неща?"](https://www.dw.com/bg/%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B0-%D0%BB%D0%B8-%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B0-%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B0-%D0%B4%D0%B0-%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%88%D0%B5-%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B0-%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%89%D0%B0/a-48720671). *amp.dw.com*. Retrieved 2019-05-25.

1. ["Как се промени стилът на първата дама Десислава Радева за две години (СНИМКИ)"](https://dariknews.bg/v-snimki/kak-se-promeni-stilyt-na-pyrvata-dama-desislava-radeva-za-dve-godini-snimki-22236). *DarikNews.bg*. Retrieved 2019-05-25.

1. ["Българските традиции | Bulgaria | Живата вода на България"](https://www.zhivatavoda.bg/). *zhivatavoda.bg*. Retrieved 2019-05-25.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Desislava Radeva](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desislava_Radeva) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desislava_Radeva?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.