Todor Zhivkov

In memoriam

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, he sought to promote friendship with other Balkan nations such as Turkey and Yugoslavia. He also tried to stimulate the Bulgarian economy through increased tourism, trade, and industry. During the early 1980s he became more nationalistic in his governance. He launched some small reforms after Mikhail Gorbachev brought in the period of perestroika in the Soviet Union, but was finally forced from power in 1989. At the time of his downfall, he was the longest-serving Soviet bloc leader. A couple of years later he was convicted of embezzling government funds and sentenced to seven years in prison. He was acquitted by the Bulgarian Supreme Court in 1996.

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