Irina Bokova is a Bulgarian diplomat born in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. She is a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Her diplomatic career includes serving as Ambassador of Bulgaria to France and Monaco, as well as Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO. She served as the Director-General of UNESCO from 2009 to February 2017, becoming the first woman to lead the organization.
During her tenure, Irina Bokova was actively engaged in the adoption of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She focused on quality education, gender equality, the protection of the world cultural heritage, and the role of culture in sustainable development . She was named in the Forbes list of the world's most influential women in 2016 . In 2020, she was elected as an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .
On September 15, 2023, she was appointed as Honorary Dean of the School of International Organizations and Honorary Director of the Research Center of the United Nations and International Organizations at Beijing Foreign Studies University.