Biography
Vanga was born in Strumica (today in Republic of Macedonia), and after 1942 lived in Petrich (Bulgaria). Her birth was a premature one and the baby had been suffering from some health complications. In accordance with local tradition, the baby was not given a name until it was likely to survive. After the baby's first cry-out, a midwife went out in the street and asked a stranger for a name. The stranger proposed Andromaha, but it was not accepted for being "too Greek", so the second stranger's proposal, Vangelia (Greek: Βαγγελία, short for Ευαγγελία, "herald of the blessed word"), was accepted