The 'White Angel': Maidan Heroine Considers Future in Politics

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http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/maidan-hero-olga-bogomolets-considers-future-in-ukrainian-politics-a-962369.html



Ukrainian physician Olga Bogomolets became a hero on Independance Square in Kiev by providing medical care to injured protesters. She has become a force in the country and has the potential to parlay her experiences into a promising political career.

The 'White Angel': Maidan Heroine Considers Future in Politics
By Marc Hujer
April 04, 2014 – 02:31 PM

There is a stack of paper on the conference table in her office. It consists of hundreds of flyers and an equal number of declarations of sympathy for Olga Bogomolets, collected by her friends on Maidan Square. The flyers depict her wearing a doctor's white coat, her blonde hair in a bob hairstyle, along with the words: I believe in Olga Bogomolets.

She is about to begin talking about Ukraine's future, about what happens after the Crimean crisis and where the country is headed. The 48-year-old has invited friends "from civil society," as she says, to attend the discussion. But the event on this afternoon is really about Bogomolets and the stack of papers on the table in front of her.

"You know that I have no money for a presidential election campaign," she says. That's her problem, but it's also her biggest trump card, and the reason why the group of people now sitting in front of her want to elect Bogomolets and no one else to the country's highest office. She smiles and says nothing for a moment. She loves this innocent pose, just like the one in which she is depicted on thousands of flyers, looking blissful, almost otherworldly.

Bogomolets is a dermatologist who specializes in the laser treatment of tumors. She comes from a medical dynasty of sorts. Her parents and grandparents were also physicians. She is considered an expert in the early skin cancer detection and she has been involved in providing healthcare to orphans for years. Bogomolets is the successful owner of the top dermatology and cosmetic surgery clinic in Kiev. She treats the beautiful and the powerful, including lawmakers and a former president. Still, Bogomolets isn't wealthy.