Daniela Simidchieva is the Bulgarian with the best-ever score in the Mensa IQ test. What is more, based on her IQ exceeding 200 points given the global average of 100 points, the Daily Telegraph has declared her the brightest woman worldwide. Men definitely dominate the 2%-group of people with such high scores, the newspaper comments and explains the fact with gender evolution and with a greater commitment of men to the survival of the family. The latter statement applies to Daniela – she has raised her three daughters on her own during the difficult years of transition in Bulgaria. For her friends and family she is someone convinced in the power of good. Daniela Simidchieva has an MA in economy and sociology. She has also studied for a while at Sofia’s Technical University and at the Southwestern University in Blagoevgrad. Her basic degree however is in economy, which she has completed, while working and caring for her children. Apart from her incredible IQ, Daniela Simidchieva is also known for her problems of finding a well-paid job.
“I went to the Mensa test at a moment when I had nothing to lose. I had problems in my private life: looking after three children, paying the rent and with little income to rely on. So I decided to prove to myself that I am not incapable. The test was an adventure to me. Quite surprisingly my score turned out fantastic, attesting to a rarely high IQ. This fact however has in no way changed my self-perception.”
For the time being Daniela Simidchieva is deputy president of Mensa Bulgaria, an acknowledgement that brings no financial benefits at all. As to finding a prestigious job based on an exceptional IQ, things look a but more complex:
“It helped me only once, when one of my employers hired me after a TV broadcast on Mensa and my score. In most cases however, this unusual IQ is a hindrance. An HR once told me that employers feared too intelligent and qualified people for always hungering after a better job. I must say that this does not apply to me. I know my potential and all I need is financial stability that a job would give me. I’ve been trying to find a job by looking at job advertisements. Well, it seems difficult not only because of the crisis, but also because I’m close to 50 years old. I am often asked why an intelligent person like me has not started her own business. Well, before being a Mensa member, I am also a mother, and the education of my children has been my priority so far. Now that my youngest daughter has graduated from school, I feel free to experiment.”
What is Daniela Simidcheva’s message to her children?
“I want them to be human, to be good. The better you are, the more difficult for someone’s spiteful thoughts to reach you. By being good we actually bring good to our own lives. My childhood dream was to have three children. I have fulfilled it, and this is my lifetime achievement, the top of my system of values. Had it not been for my children, any career or financial prosperity would have been hollow and meaningless.”
English version: Daniela Konstantinova
