- Gotse Delchev
Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev ; 1872-1903) was an important 19th century revolutionary figure in Ottoman Macedonia region and Thrace. He was one of the leaders of what is nowadays commonly referred to as the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees (BMARC). This organization was active in Ottoman Macedonia and Thrace at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
- Dimitar Berbatov
Dimitar Berbatov (born January 30, 1981 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a striker for English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur and Bulgaria.
- Georgi Parvanov
Georgi Parvanov was elected president of the Republic of Bulgaria on 18 November 2001. The leader of the Socialist party became the first former communist to win a presidential vote since the fall of communism in Bulgaria in the early 1990s. His pre-election campaign ran under the motto "I am on your side" and emphasised social issues. Support for Parvanov's candidacy was about double that his party got in the parliamentary elections five months earlier.
- Elin Pelin
Elin Pelin (July 8, 1877 – December 3, 1949), born Dimitar Ivanov Stoyanov is arguably considered Bulgaria’s best narrator of country life. Born into a large family in the village of Baylovo near Sofia, he loved writing and reading from an early age. Studying to become a teacher, he taught for a year in 1895 in his native village. He was first published in 1901, and the respect it earned him in literary circles encouraged him to go to Sofia in 1903, …
- Vasil Levski
Vasil Levski, born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev was a Bulgarian revolutionary, ideologist, strategist and theoretician of the Bulgarian national revolution and leader of the struggle for liberation from Ottoman rule. Due to his major significance for the liberation of Bulgaria, Vasil Levski is hailed as a national hero and often referred to as "The Apostle of Freedom" by the Bulgarian people.
- Tsvetana Pironkova
Tsvetana Pironkova (born 13 September 1987) is a female Bulgarian tennis player. She was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and resides there. Pironkova is right-handed and plays with a two-handed backhand. Pironkova started playing tennis at the age of 4 when her father, Kiril Pironkov, introduced her to the game. At the age of six, she started playing in junior tournaments in Bulgaria. In August 2002 at the age of 14, …
- Ivan Vazov
Ivan Vazov (June 27, 1850 - September 22, 1921) was a Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright. He was born in Sopot, a town in the Rose Valley of Bulgaria.
- Hristo Botev
Botev (January 6, 1848 – June 2, 1876), born Hristo Botyov Petkov, was a Bulgarian poet and national revolutionary, widely considered the nation's greatest poet.
- Sergey Stanishev
Sergey Dmitrievich Stanishev, Bulgarian politician, is Prime Minister of Bulgaria and Chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). Stanishev was born in Kherson in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union) to a Bulgarian father, Dimitar Stanishev (from Kukush in Macedonia: today Kilkis, Greece) and a Russian mother. He was educated at Moscow State University, where he gained a doctorate in history in 1994.
- Solomon Passy
Solomon Isaac Passy (born December 22, 1956) is a Bulgarian politician, foreign minister of Bulgaria from July 2001 until August 2005, and the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE in 2004. Solomon Passy was born in Plovdiv. He is the son of famous Bulgarian philosopher Isaac Passy. He is a renowned mathematician and holds a Ph.D. in Mathematical Logic and Computer Science from Sofia University. He was involved in the dissident movement under totalitarianism.
- Georgi Markov
Georgi Markov (born 20 January 1972) is a Bulgarian footballer currently (as of June 2006) playing for Lokomotiv Sofia as a defender. He was born in Gotse Delchev near the border with Greece. His career began at the local club PFC Pirin but he was only 21, moved to the very successful Bulgarian club PFC Botev. He played for Botev in the Bulgarian A PFG between 1993 and 1996.From June 1996 Georgi goed in PFC Lokomotiv from Bulgarian capital Sofia.
- Georgi Markov
Georgi Ivanov Markov (March 1, 1929 - September 11, 1978) was a Bulgarian dissident. Markov originally worked as a novelist and playwright, but in 1969, he defected from Bulgaria, then a communist state under the leadership of President Todor Zhivkov. After moving to the West, he worked as a broadcaster and journalist for the BBC World Service, Radio Free Europe, and the German Deutsche Welle. He criticised the Bulgarian communist regime many times on radio.
- Ivan Kostov
Ivan Yordanov Kostov (born December 23, 1949 in Sofia) was Prime Minister of Bulgaria from May 1997 to July 2001 and leader of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) between December 1994 and July 2001. Ivan Kostov graduated in Economics from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia in 1974, and later earned a Ph.D. in Mathematical Modeling of Economic Processes from the Sofia University. He had worked as associate professor at Sofia Technical University, …
- Veselin Topalov
Veselin Topalov (born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and former FIDE world champion. In the April 2007 FIDE rating list, he is ranked second in the world with an Elo rating of 2772. His current trainer and manager is International Master Silvio Danailov. Topalov became the FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005. Topalov was awarded the 2005 Chess Oscar.
- Todor Zhivkov
Todor Hristov Zhivkov (September 7, 1911-August 5, 1998) was the Communist leader of Bulgaria from March 4, 1954 until November 10, 1989.
- Martin Petrov
Martin Ivaylov Petrov (born January 15, 1979 in Vratsa) is a Bulgarian football player currently playing for Atlético Madrid in Spain. He began his career for CSKA Sofia and after a successful two games against Servette in the UEFA Cup, the Swiss side bought the 19-year-old for 1.2 m. German marks. Soon he moved to the German Bundesliga and established himself as a very explosive player for VfL Wolfsburg.
- Geo Milev
Geo Milev (January 15, 1895, Radnevo - after May 15, 1925, Sofia), born Georgi Kasabov Milev, was a Bulgarian poet and author. He was executed after being accused of taking part in the St Nedelya Church assault.
- Meglena Kuneva
Meglena Shtilianova Kuneva (born 22 June 1957) is a Bulgarian and EU politician. Born in Sofia, Kuneva graduated in Law from Sofia University in 1981. In 1984 she became a Doctor of Law. She worked as a journalist for the Law Programme of the Bulgarian National Radio while being an Assistant Professor at Sofia University. In 1990 she took a job as Senior Legal Advisor at the Council of Ministers and held it until 2001.
- Hristo Stoichkov
Hristo Stoichkov alternatively spelt Stoitchkov (born February 8, 1966, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria) is a football manager and former striker who was a member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Apart from his footballing talent, he was notable for his on-pitch temper. He was honoured as European Footballer of the Year in 1994.
- Neofit Rilski
Neofit Rilski or Neophyte of Rila (1793 - January 4, 1881), born Nikola Poppetrov Benin is a 19th-century Bulgarian monk, teacher and artist, and an important figure of the Bulgarian National Revival. Born in the southwestern town of Bansko (or possibly in the village of Guliyna Banya), Benin was educated to become a teacher, initially by his father Petar, and later at the Rila Monastery, …
- Ivaylo Kalfin
Ivaylo Georgiev Kalfin (born 30 May 1964) is a Bulgarian politician, a three-term deputy and current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and Deputy Prime Minister since 2005.
- Georgi Pirinski
Georgi Pirinski (born 10 September 1948) is a Bulgarian politician of the Bulgarian Communist Party and after 1990 of the Bulgarian Socialist Party. Born in New York City, USA in the emigrant family of Communist functionary Georgi Pirinski, Sr., he has roots from Pirin Macedonia. His mother Pauline was born in New York City and was a member of the Young Communist League at the City College of New York. She was a university professor of English in Sofia.
- Georgi Dimitrov
Georgi Dimitrov Mikhailov, also known as Georgiy Mikhailovich Dimitrov, (June 18, 1882 - July 2, 1949) was a Bulgarian Communist leader.
- Ivan Ivanov
Ivan Ivanov (born August 27 1971) was an Olympic weightlifter for Bulgaria.
- Ivan Ivanov
Ivan Ivanov, born 25 February 1988 in Blagoevgrad, Height: 186 cm, Weight: 77 kg) is a Bulgarian footballer, currently playing for PFC CSKA Sofia as a defender. He is an ex-PFC Pirin 1922 player. He moved to PFC CSKA Sofia in 2005. He is Bulgarian under 21 player. As a player of PFC CSKA Sofia he was a Bulgarian Cup winner in 2006 and Bulgarian Super Cup winner of the same year. Ivan Ivanov is considered as one of the big Bulgarian football talents.
- Rumen Petkov
Rumen Petkov (born 26 January, 1948) is a Bulgarian animator and comic creator. His influence spawned a new generation of young Bulgarian comic book artists as Vladimir Nedialkov, Koko Sarkisian, Ivan Kirjakov and others. He was one of the main artists of the comics magazine DUGA (Rainbow), which was the most popular comics for several generations of Bulgarian children.
- Sesil Karatantcheva
Sesil Karatantcheva (pronounced: seh-SEEL ka-rah-TAN-cheh-vuh; born August 8, 1989) is a Bulgarian professional female tennis player. She was born in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.
- Stefan Stambolov
Stefan Nikolov Stambolov was a Bulgarian revolutionary and statesman. He is considered as one of the most important and popular "Founders of Modern Bulgaria" and is sometimes referred to as "the Bulgarian Bismarck". He was born in Veliko Turnovo. His education started in his home town, but he later studied in the Odessa Seminary between 1870 and 1872. Stambolov's father took part in the "Velchova Zavera" (1835) works with Captain Nikola Filipovski (1853).
- Petar Dimitrov
Petar Dimitrov (born 28 March, 1982) is a Bulgarian football player, currently playing for FC Vihren Sandanski as a midfielder. Dimitrov is an attacking right midfielder. He played for a few clubs, including Levski Sofia, Belasitsa Petrich and CSKA Sofia. In Bulgarian first division A PFG, Petar has seven matches. *Height - 1.74 m. *Weight - 65 kg. *Number - 7'
- Milcho Leviev
Milcho Leviev (December 19, 1937, Plovdiv, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian composer, arranger, jazz performer and pianist. Milcho Leviev graduated from the State Academy of Music in 1960 majoring in Composition under Professor Pancho Vladigerov and in Piano under Professor Andrei Stoyanov. As a student, he won the second prize at the International Competition in Vienna for his Toccatina for piano. His professional development as a composer began at the Drama Theatre in Plovdiv.
- Volen Siderov
Volen Siderov (born 19 April 1956) is a controversial Bulgarian politician and chairman of the far right nationalist party Attack. He is famous for his hard-line attitude towards minorities in Bulgaria, especially Roma and Turks. __TOC_
- Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Simeon of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was head of state as the Tsar of Bulgaria, Tsar Simeon II, from 1943 to 1946. He served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2001 until August 2005 under the name Simeon Sakskoburggotski (Симеон Сакскобургготски). He is also known in the English speaking world as Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, …
- Petar Petrov
Petar Petrov (born 17 February, 1955) is a retired 100 metres runner from Bulgaria. He won three medals at the European Indoor Championships as well as a bronze medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics.
- Valeri Bojinov
Valeri Emilov Bojinov, sometimes spelt Bozhinov, (born February 15, 1986) is a Bulgarian football striker who plays for Fiorentina, in Italy.
- Boris Christoff
Boris Christoff (Bulgarian:) (May 18, 1914, Plovdiv, Bulgaria - June 28, 1993, Rome, Italy) was a Bulgarian opera singer, one of the greatest basses of the 20th century. Christoff demonstrated early his singing talent and sang as a boy at the choir of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia. In the late 1930s he graduated in law and started on a career as a magistrate. He, however, continued singing in his spare time in the Gusla Chorus in Sofia, …
- Angel Kanchev
Angel Kanchev Angelov (1850 – 5 March 1872) was a Bulgarian revolutionary, born in Tryavna. Kanchev studied in Serbia and Bohemia. In 1868 he participated in the Second Bulgarian Legion in Belgrade. After an unsuccessful attempt to enter Romania, he committed suicide to avoid being captured by the Ottomans. A monument of Angel Kanchev now stands in Rousse, Bulgaria near the location of his death. He is further honored by being the namesake of the Rousse University, …
- Dimitar Dimitrov
Dimitar Dimitrov (born 9 June 1959), nicknamed Héro, is a Bulgarian football coach. He has managed Neftohimik Burgas, Litex Lovech, the Bulgaria national team, Levski Sofia and Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
- Dragan Tsankov
Dragan Kiriakov Tsankov (25 October 1828 - 11 March 1911) was a Bulgarian politician and the first Liberal Party Prime Minister of the country. Tsankov was initially a civil servant in the administration of the Ottoman Empire, who in the 1850s gained a reputation as a supporter of the Greek-Catholic Church. Later he became closely associated with opposition to the Ottomans and the independence movement. A leading figure in the drive towards independence, …
- Georgi Georgiev
Georgi Georgiev is a Bulgarian musician. Along with singer-songwriter Svilen Noev, Georgiev is the mastermind behind the music of Ostava. He is heavily influenced by contemporaries Noel Gallagher, The Edge, Johnny Marr, and Jonny Greenwood.
- Georgi Georgiev
Georgi Georgiev (born 10 January 1963) was a Bulgarian football player. He was part of the Bulgarian national team that reached the semi-finals of the 1994 World Cup.