Boris III b. January 30, 1894 d. August 28, 1943 King of Bulgaria. His full name was Boris Clemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver. His parents were Ferdinand I, King of the Bulgarians, and Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma. He became King on October 3rd, 1918 upon his father's abdication. Boris came to power at a time of political, economic and spiritual crisis. Bulgaria's deplorable state largely affected young ruler's initial agenda, as well as his style of government. Immediately after the war he had to defend the monarchy...[Read More] (Bio by: Jelena) Monastery Rila, Rila, Kyustendil, Bulgaria
Dimitrov, Georgi b. June 18, 1882 d. July 2, 1949 Bulgarian Prime Minister, Communist Party Leader. A revolutionary from boyhood, he was a leading figure in the 1923 Communist revolt against Bulgarian leader Alexander Tsankov. When the revolt failed, he fled Bulgaria and continued to work for the Communist cause. In 1933 he was arrested in Berlin for alleged involvement in setting the German Reichstag building on fire. His conduct of his defense and the accusations he made toward his prosecutors won him worldwide fame. He was acquitted...[Read More] (Bio by: Mr. Badger Hawkeye) Sofia Central Cemetery, Sofia, Grad Sofiya (City of Sofia), Bulgaria
Maxim, Patriarch b. October 29, 1914 d. November 6, 2012 Religious Leader. He shall be remembered for his tenure of more than 40 years as head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Born Marin Naidenov Minkov in the small village of Oreshak, he was raised and educated in the Balkan mountains prior to entering the Sofia Seminary. Following his 1935 graduation he studied theology at Sofia University and was ordained a priest in 1941. Minkov held various administrative positions within his church prior to being consectated titular Bishop of Branit in 1956...[Read More] (Bio by: Bob Hufford) Troyan Monastery, Lovech, Lovech, Bulgaria
Nemanjic II., Stefan Uros b. 1253 d. October 29, 1321 Serbian king from 1282 to 1321 and Saint. The "Holy King Uros" marked the elevation of Serbia to a dominant Balkan position, and saw cultural and economic prosperity and advances along many lines. The first 17 years or so of the new king's rule witnessed considerable international activity - through much warfare and some diplomacy most of it south and east against the ailing Byzantine state, some against decentralized Bulgarian interests in the northeast. Much of that was brought to a close...[Read More] (Bio by: Jelena) Cathedral of Saint Nedela, Sofia, Grad Sofiya (City of Sofia), Bulgaria
Zhivkov, Todor b. September 7, 1911 d. August 5, 1998 Bulgarian President, Prime Minister, Communist Party Leader. A Communist from 1932, he rose to prominence as a partisan leader during World War II and headed the coup against the Bulgarian monarchy in September 1944. In 1948 he became a member of the Communist Party Central Committee, and First Secretary of the Party in 1954. Zhivkov served as Prime Minister from 1962 to 1971 before assuming the post of President of Bulgaria. Although he was very close to the leadership of the Soviet Union...[Read More] (Bio by: Mr. Badger Hawkeye) Sofia Central Cemetery, Sofia, Grad Sofiya (City of Sofia), Bulgaria
b. January 30, 1894 d. August 28, 1943