Panka Pelishek was a Bulgarian pianist and music teacher of Czech origin. She was born in Sofia to the family of Czech horn player Vaclav Pelishek, who had settled in Bulgaria. On her mother’s side, she was the great-granddaughter of composer Fritz Spindler.
She began studying music at a private music school in Sofia with Heinrich Wiesner and Lyudmila Prokopova, then studied with Andrey Stoyanov and Ivan Torchanov. In 1918, she spent two months training in Budapest with Arnold Szekely. She graduated in 1923 from the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where she studied with I. Hoffmann.
In the early 1920s, Pelishek gave concerts in Austria, including performances with singer Konstantsa Kirova, before returning to Bulgaria. She remained active as a concert pianist in Bulgaria until 1950 and became especially known for her performances of Beethoven.
From 1923, she taught in Plovdiv; from 1925 to 1984, she taught at the Sofia Conservatory, becoming a professor in 1931. Her students included Ventsislav Yankov and Milena Mollova. Pelishek was named a People's Artist of Bulgaria in 1969. She died in Sofia on January 17, 1990, aged 90.