social events at the xxxiii congress
3 September 2014
The opening ceremony of the congress was held in the Triaditsa hall at the Grand Hotel. FIDEM's President opened the congress by announcing the recent death of FIDEM's honorary member, Mr Claude Arthus-Bertrand. He was the son of one of the founders of FIDEM and since the 1960's had been active in FIDEM by first being the General Secretary, later the treasurer and finally until 2007, the auditor. It had been decided during the Executive and Consultative Committees meeting that the XXXIII FIDEM congress would be dedicated to the memory of Mr Arthus-Bertrand. The congress magazine, Médailles Magazine 2014, will also be dedicated to the memory of its honorary member.
Later in the evening all the participants could enjoy the official opening of the medal exhibition followed by a cocktail at the National Archeological Museum. The opening was grandiose with a man choir singing and chanting songs from different religions. The acoustics from the former Ottoman mosque were fantastic. After the opening speeches, the guests could walk to the first floor and look at the medal exhibition. The medals were displayed by country in different cases placed along the gallery. The gallery had Bulgarian icons hanging on the walls and overlooking the medals and the guests.
