Gushterova, Vangelia (1911–1996)
Gushterova, Vangelia (1911–1996)
Bulgarian prophet . Name variations: Aunt Vanya; Vanya Gushterova. Born in Macedonia in 1911; died in Rupite, Bulgaria, on August 11, 1996.
Blinded in a windstorm when she was 12, Vangelia Gushterova, by her own account, was a visionary who drew her powers from an ancient city buried under her village in southwestern Bulgaria. Many believed in her ability, and by the time she was a teenager, her reputation had spread across the impoverished Balkan country. "Aunt Vanya," as she was called, ministered to politicians and peasants, reputedly diagnosing the sick and even locating missing persons. In 1941, she dreamed of an "ancient horseman" who foretold the Nazi march into the Balkans.
Gushterova consulted from her modest house in Rupite, where hundreds stood in line outside her door almost daily. Upon her death in 1996, at age 84, she was estimated to have administered to over one million believers. "She lived not for herself but for the people. That made her a living saint for us," said Prime Minister Zhan Videnov.
sources:
"Milestones," in Time. August 26, 1996.
"Obituaries." The Day [New London]. August 13, 1996.