Milka Bliznakov

She was Professor Emerita of Architecture at Virginia Tech from 1974 to 1998.

• Name — Milka T. Bliznakov • Born — September 20, 1927 • Birthplace — Varna, Bulgaria • Died — 4 November 2010 • Place of death — Blacksburg, Virginia • Education — State Polytechnic of Sofia Columbia University • Awards — Parthena Medal (1985)

Milka Bliznakov was born on September 20, 1927, in Varna, Bulgaria to Ivan Dimitrov Tchernev and Dr. Maria Kesarova Khorosova. She earned a master's degree in architecture from the State Polytechnic University of Sofia in 1951.

Bliznakov started an architecture practice in Bulgaria in 1952. Political circumstances forced her to move her practice to France in 1959. She immigrated to the United States two years later, in 1961. She worked as an architect and studied early Soviet architecture during the 1960s. After earning a PhD in architectural history from Columbia University in 1971, she taught at the University of Texas from 1972 to 1974. There she co-founded the Institute of Modern Russian Culture in 1972. Bliznakov joined the faculty of Virginia Tech's School of Architecture and Design in 1974, teaching in the urban design program. She became recognized as an authority on the avant-garde and Russian Constructivism. In 1985, she established the International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA) as a joint program of Virginia Tech's College of Architecture and Urban Studies and the University Libraries. She chaired IAWA's Board of Advisors from 1985 to 1993. Bliznakov retired in 1998, the same year that the Milka Bliznakov Prize was established. The prize is awarded for research that furthers knowledge of women's contributions to architecture and design. Bliznakov died at her Blacksburg, Virginia, home on November 4, 2010.