Vezhdi Letif Rashidov is a Bulgarian sculptor, GERB politician and Minister of Culture of Bulgaria.
Background
Rashidov was born in Dimitrovgrad to ethnic Turkish parents. However, he moved to Haskovo with his parents at age two. His mother Kadrie Lyatifova, a singer of Bulgarian and Turkish folk songs, died in a car crash when he was in primary school.
Education
Until seventh grade, Rashidov lived and studied at an orphanage in Studen Kladenets near Kardzhali.
Career
Rashidov then studied mining electrics and mechanics in Madan. He graduated from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia in 1978. As a sculptor, Rashidov has authored statuettes for a number of prominent prizes, as well as many large-scale works.
Despite being an ethnic Turk, Rashidov as a prominent social figure has been an outspoken critic of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.
He is currently holding this position. Rashidov is married and has a child.
In 2001, he was briefly arrested for assaulting a policeman.
Politics
He participated in the 2009 Bulgarian parliamentary election as GERB"s voting list leader and proportional candidate in Kardzhali Province and became the first non-Movement for Rights and Freedoms candidate in many years to be elected to parliament from that constituency. When GERB won the election and formed a government in 2009, Rashidov was the party"s Minister of Culture. In 2014, when GERB formed a coalition government, Rashidov was for the second time the party"s Minister of Culture.
Membership
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.