IN MEMORIAM Assoc. Prof. Elissaveta Borisova Zvetkova, MD, PhD (05.07.1940 19.05.2024)

Prof. Nadia Antonova

Abstract: Elissaveta Zvetkova, a member of the Еditorial Board and active collaborator of J. Series on Biomechanics, passed away on May 19, 2024. She was born on July 5, 1940, in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. She graduated from the Higher Medical Institute in Sofia in 1964. In 1966, she became a doctoral student at the Institute of Morphology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, where she defended her doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Acad. A. I. Hadzhiolov. They published together a monograph on the fluorescent properties of cells and tissues in vertebrates and humans. Dr. Zvetkova and her collaborators developed and published an original method for visualization of cytoplasmic RNP proteins in hematopoietic colonies in agar cultures. The method was modified for simultaneous and differential staining of nucleoproteins and some cationic proteins for quantitative analysis of blood and exfoliated cells. Dr. Zvetkova specialized in France, Russia and Germany. She was an expert in histology, embryology, fluorescent histochemistry, bone marrow hematopoiesis, etc., a supervisor of students and doctoral students and a coordinator/ participant in many research projects. She was a Head of the Department of Cell Differentiation at the Institute of Experimental Morphology and Anthropology (1995-2005) and a part-time assistant at the Medical University of Sofia and the Faculty of Biology of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" (1976-1995). Her main scientific contributions are in the field of general and local regulatory mechanisms of bone marrow hematopoiesis in normal and pathological conditions. She has studied the in vitro effect of neopterin and other pteridines on the proliferation, differentiation and colony formation of bone marrow hematopoietic granulocyte-macrophage progenitors, in vitro influence of growth factors on the hemorrhagic properties and intercellular interactions of hematopoietic and endothelial cells. The results obtained were published in more than 120 scientific articles. Assoc. Prof. Zvetkova was a member of the Bulgarian Society of Biorheology, and actively collaborated on the Department of Biomechanics at the Institute of Mechanics. For her scientific achievements, she was awarded many national and international awards. She also loved to play music, draw and write poetry. Assoc. Prof. Zvetkova dedicated her life to science and research, and until her last breath, she worked in the field of cell biology, haematology and hemorheology. She will leave an eternal mark in our hearts with her refined style, encyclopedic knowledge and generosity.

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Date published: 2025-10-28