Bulgarian historical figures
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.
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.
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;
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.
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.
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.
Saint Sofroniy Vrachanski
(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.
Dr Petar Beron
(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.
Vasil Aprilov
(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 BellLancaster method .
Ilarion Makariopolski
1812 – 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 togeth
er with Neofit Bozveli
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.
Georgi Rakovski
(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.
Lyuben Karavelov
(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.
Vasil Levski
(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.
Hristo Botev
(1848 – 1876)
He was a Bulgarian poet
and national revolutionary.
He was a chairman of the
Bulgarian Central
Revolutionary Committee.
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 governorgeneral of that province for
five years
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.
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.
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 .
Aleksandur Stamboliyski
(1879- 1923)
He was the prime minister
of Bulgaria a member of the
Agrarian Union .
He signed the peace treaty
of Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1919.
He introduced some reforms
orientated to the peasants.
Todor Zhivkov
(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.
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