Ralitsa Vassileva

Ralitsa Vassileva
Born	Ralitsa Vassileva 1967 Sofia, Bulgaria
Ethnicity	Bulgarian
Education	University of Sofia
Occupation	Journalist, Newsanchor
Notable credit(s)	CNN World News
Religion	Bulgarian Orthodox

Ralitsa Vassileva (Bulgarian: Ралица Василева, born 1967 in Sofia, Bulgaria) is a CNN television news anchorwoman.

She has covered the Bosnian War, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and many other major international issues. She has interviewed many world leaders, including Mikhail Gorbachev, Ariel Sharon, Henry Kissinger, and others.

Career

Ralitsa Vassileva is an anchor for CNN International. Based at the network's global headquarters in Atlanta, she anchors CNN Newsroom, previously known as World Report.

Since she assumed her duties at CNN International in 1992, Vassileva has anchored coverage of many major international news stories including most recently the Chilean miner rescue, the Iran student protests and Israel’s Gaza offensive. In addition to her anchoring duties, Vassileva has reported in the field from places like Moscow, Jerusalem and the United Nations. She has also done long-form documentaries like her half hour special on the 20th anniversary of the fall of Communism in her native Bulgaria.

Vassileva’s long career at CNN began with coverage of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East, as well as Russia's transition to democracy and Northern Ireland's peace agreement. Vassileva has also anchored CNN’s coverage of the UN weapons inspection crisis in Iraq, the September 11th attacks on the United States, the war against terrorism and the ongoing military offensive in Afghanistan.

She has interviewed many notable senior international leaders and public figures such as former U.S. Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov, business entrepreneurs Ted Turner and Richard Branson, as well as seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

Vassileva began her career at CNN as anchor of ‘CNN World Report’, the world's only forum for international broadcasters to present news from their country before CNN's global audience.

Before joining CNN, Vassileva was an anchor and reporter for Bulgarian Television (BT). She cut her teeth in journalism covering the fall of communism in her native Bulgaria. In this role, she helped develop a post-communist approach to news delivery and soon became the country's second highest-rated anchor.

Vassileva's interest in journalism began after she joined Bulgarian Radio's English language service in 1987 as an English translator and announcer where she would later add reporting to her duties.

Vassileva was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and was educated at English language schools in Sofia and New Delhi, India. She has an MA in English Language and Literature from Sofia University. She recently acquired an MA in Political Science from Georgia State University in Atlanta.

In 2001, the American University in Bulgaria awarded Vassileva an honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters for her contributions to journalism.

Trivia

• Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson wrote and recorded a song called "Not Ralitsa Vassileva", which appeared on his album Rupi's Dance. Vassileva appeared as guest at an Ian Anderson "Rubbing Elbows" performance in Atlanta, Georgia
• Ralitsa Vassileva appears in the 2006 British film The Queen^[1] in a real-life outtake of her anchoring CNN's World News. She says "Britain's Queen Elizabeth will deliver a televised address Friday, the royal family has been accused of not showing enough remorse over Princess Diana's death".

References

External links

• RALITSA VASSILEVA: I MADE SENSE OF A NEW REALITY AFTER SEPTEMBER 11 Novinite.com, 7 April 2002 - Interview with Ralitsa Vassileva on Bulgarian online media Novinite
• Ralitsa Vassileva's blog CNN.com In the Field
• Ralitsa Vassileva profile CNN.com
• CNN