Bulgarian historical figures

2. Bulgarian historical figures

3. Khan Asparuh Khan Asparuh is a proto Bulgarian ruler who founded the so- called Danube Bulgarian State. He is the third son of khan Kubrat, the founder of The Great Bulgaria.

4. Khan Tervel(701-718) He was the first foreign ruler whom the Byzantine Emperor gives the title “kesar” recognizing the existence of Bulgarian state in that way. He achieved the first territorial expansion of Bulgaria and managed to stop the Arabian invasion in Europe.

5. Khan Krum (803- 814) During his rule he Introduced the statute laws, expanded the territory of Bulgaria and united proto Bulgarians and Slavs into one centralized state;

6. Knyaz Boris-Mihail I (852- 889) He introduced the Christianity and the Slavic writing system in Bulgarian state. He gathered the People’s Council in Preslav and as a result of it the capital of Bulgaria was moved from Pliska to Preslav, the Old Bulgarian language to replace the Greek; the Byzantine clergy to be banished and replaced with Bulgarian clerics.

7. Tsar Simeon I the Great(893- 927) During his rule Bulgaria gained significant territorial expansion making it the most powerful state in Eastern Europe. His reign was a period of amazing cultural prosperity and Bulgarian Glagolitic  translations of Christian texts spread all over the Slavic world of the time.

8. Paisiy Hilendarski (1722-1773) He famous for  being The author of Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya, the second modern Bulgarian history. He is thought to be the forefather of the Bulgarian National Revival.

9. Saint SofroniyVrachanski(1739 – 1813) He was a Bulgarian cleric one of the leading figures of the national Bulgarian Revival. He was the most eminent representatives of Bulgarian people in their communication with the Russian command during the Russo-Turkish war.

10. Dr PetarBeron(1800 - 1871) He was a famous Bulgarian educator.  He created the first modern Bulgarian primer called Fish Primer after the picture of a dolphin on the front cover of the book.

11. VasilAprilov(1789 – 1847) He was a Bulgarian educator devoted himself to Bulgarian Renaissance.  In his will he left a large amount of money for building the Aprilovska High School in Gabrovo, which was the first Bulgarian secular School using the Bell- Lancaster method . 

12. IlarionMakariopolski1812 – 1875 He was a Bulgarian cleric and one of the leaders of the struggle for an autonomous Bulgarian church.  Ilarion Makariopolski took an active part in the Macedonian revolutionary society and since 1844 he guided the Bulgarian church struggle from Constantinople together with Neofit Bozveli

13. Stefan Bogoridi(1775-1780) He was a high ranking  Ottoman statesman of Bulgarian origin. He donated his house in Fener and with the sultan’s permission the famous Bulgarian iron church was later built, and named Saint Stephen in memory of him.

14. GeorgiRakovski(1821 – 1867)  Bulgarian revolutionary and writer and an important figure of the Bulgarian National Revival and resistance against Ottoman rule. He was one of the founders of  Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee.

15. LyubenKaravelov(1834 – 1879) He was a Bulgarian writer and an important figure of the Bulgarian National Revival. In 1870, Karavelov was elected chairman of the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee where he worked with Vasil Levski. He shared Levski’s ideas of a demokratic republic as a goal of the national revolution.

16. VasilLevski(1837-1873) He was a Bulgarian revolutionary and a national hero of Bulgaria. Levski founded the Internal Revolutionary Organization and ideologized and strategized a revolutionary movement to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule.

17. HristoBotev(1848 – 1876) He was a Bulgarian poet and national revolutionary. He was a chairman of the Bulgarian Central Revolutionary Committee.

18. Knyaz Alexander Batenberg(1857-1893) He was the firs knyaz of modern Bulgaria. With his consent the union of Eastern Rumelia with Bulgaria took place. Thanks to his diplomatic abilities and after long negotiations the sultan Abdul Hamid II nominated the Knyaz of Bulgaria as governor-general of that province for five years

19. Stefan Stambolov(1854-1895) He was a Bulgarian politician, who served as Prime Minister and regent. He is also known as the Bulgarian Bismark. During his leadership Bulgaria was transformed from an Ottoman province into a modern European state.

20. Tsar Ferdinand I(1861-1948)  He was elected Knyaz of autonomous Bulgaria by its Grand National Assembly on 7 July 1887. On 22 September 1908 Ferdinand proclaimed Bulgaria's de jure independence from the Ottoman Empire and became tsar.

21. Tsar Boris III(1894-1943) He established and authoritarian regime during his rule. He entered the World War II on the side of Axis Powers in order to get some territories lost in the World War I. Tsar Boris took part in saving Bulgarian Jews .

22. AleksandurStamboliyski(1879- 1923) He was the prime minister  of Bulgaria a member of the Agrarian Union . He signed thepeace treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1919. He introduced some reforms orientated to the peasants.

23. TodorZhivkov(1911- 1998)  He was the communist president of the People's Republic of Bulgaria.  His rule marked a period of unprecedented political and economic stability for Bulgaria, marked both by complete submission of Bulgaria to Soviet rule and a desire for expanding ties with the West. 

24. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.