Young scholar from the ISL-BAS awarded the "Dr Ilko Eskenazi" prize of the "St. Cyril and St. Methodius" International Foundation

Chief Assist. Prof. Petar Topurov, PhD, of the Department of Civil Law of the Institute for the State and the Law at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, won the annual award for a scientific publication in the field of legal science named after Dr Ilko Eskenazi. The award has been conferred since 2005 by the International Foundation "St. St. Cyril and Methodius" and the Memorial Fund "Dr Ilko Eskenazi". The competition for the award aims to distinguish one written work each in the fields of "Law" and "Economics" related to the integration of Bulgaria and its membership of the EU, and is intended for young scholars up to the age of 35. This year the scientific jury awarded the prize to Dr Petar Topurov for his study entitled "Domestic Violence as a Form of Violation of Human Rights in the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights". The award was presented by Prof. Ekaterina Mihaylova.

The award is named after Dr Ilko Eskenazi – a Bulgarian scholar, lawyer and politician. In 1975 Ilko Eskenazi became a full-time doctoral student at the ISL at the BAS, where in 1980 he successfully defended his dissertation. He was then elected research associate at the ISL at the BAS, where he obtained habilitation in 1990. Ilko Eskenazi began his teaching activity in the field of intellectual property at the Faculty of Law of Sofia University, at the School of Patent Law at the Higher Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (VMEI) – Sofia, and at the University of Economics – Varna. In the period 1990–1992 he was a member of parliament. In 1992 he became Deputy Prime Minister, heading the interdepartmental commission on Bulgaria's association with the European Union, and in 1993 the association became a reality. From 1990 until his death on 28 September 1994, Dr Eskenazi was Vice-President of the International Foundation "St. St. Cyril and Methodius". The Memorial Fund "Dr Ilko Eskenazi" was established at the end of 1994. Its aim is to support the professional and academic development of young people in the study of the legal, economic and political sciences in Bulgaria.