Elisaveta Iordanova Bobolina was born in 1980 in Sofia (Bulgaria). She graduated in aeronautical engineering from the Technical University of Sofia. She wanted to train in the Bulgarian Air Force as a fighter pilot, but as they did not accept women she competed for selection by the Bulgarian government, who financed her training as a civilian pilot. She speaks Bulgarian, English, Russian and Spanish. She obtained a grant from the SENER Foundation to study at Cranfield University (England), during the 2003-4 and 2004-5 academic years, obtaining an MSc in Astronautics and Space Engineering with very high grades. She is currently working in Spain.