Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Swiss lay the foundations of physical education in Bulgaria

Photo: nsa.bg

The conference "The work of Swiss teachers - a message and a challenge for future generations" was held today. It was organised by the National Sports Academy "Vasil Levski" and the Swiss Embassy and is dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the arrival of Swiss teachers who laid the foundations of physical education in Bulgaria.

On 17 May 1894, the first 10 physical education teachers from Switzerland arrived in Sofia with the task of establishing sport in Bulgaria. Among them were Charles Champot and Louis Ayer. 

For the first time in Bulgaria, the Swiss imported footballs and various equipment for gymnastics. Champot was Bulgaria's first participant in the Summer Olympics - in Athens in 1896. However, Louis Ayer gained greater fame for fighting in the Balkan War, the Second Balkan War and the First World War, where he died at the Battle of Doiran in 1916. A street in Sofia is named after him.

In honour of the arrival of the Swiss teachers in Bulgaria, 17 May was declared the Day of Bulgarian Sport.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Natalia Rashkova

Research work by Bulgarian scholar traces new directions in ethnology

When a contribution in the sphere of science is transformed into the basis for subsequent in-depth research the boundaries between countries and continents seem to melt away – literally and figuratively. That is precisely what happened during a..

updated on 10/20/25 12:45 PM

Sofia hosts finals of “World’s Largest” Escape Room Championship

Sofia is hosting the finals of ER Champ 2025 — described by the organisers as the world’s largest international escape room competition .  Taking place on 19 and 20 October, the event will bring together twelve teams from around the globe , each of..

published on 10/19/25 8:26 AM

Festival “Once Upon a Time… When Bread Had a Soul” revives local traditions in the Petrich region.

More than 500 people from across Bulgaria are gathering today in the village of General Todorov, near Petrich, for the national festival “Once Upon a Time… When Bread Had a Soul,” the village mayor, Stanislav Stankov, has announced. Now in its fourth..

published on 10/19/25 8:12 AM