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Zhelyu Zhelev | |
|---|---|
Желю Желев | |
 | |
| 1st President of Bulgaria | |
| In office 22 January 1992 – 22 January 1997 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Vice President | Blaga Dimitrova |
| Preceded by | Himself (as Chairman) |
| Succeeded by | Petar Stoyanov |
| Chairman (President) of Bulgaria | |
| In office 1 August 1990 – 22 January 1992 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Deputy | Atanas Semerdzhiev |
| Preceded by | Petar Mladenov |
| Succeeded by | Himself (as President) |
| Leader of the Union of Democratic Forces | |
| In office 7 December 1989 – 1 August 1990 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Petar Beron |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Zhelyu Mitev Zhelev (1935-03-03)3 March 1935 Veselinovo,Tsardom of Bulgaria |
| Died | 30 January 2015(2015-01-30) (aged 79) Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Resting place | Central Sofia Cemetery |
| Political party | Independent (1990–2015) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Spouse | |
| Children | Mitko (died 80 days after birth) Yordanka (died in 1993)[1] Stanka |
| Occupation |
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| Signature |  |
Zhelyu Mitev Zhelev (Bulgarian:Желю Митев Желев; 3 March 1935 – 30 January 2015) was aBulgarian politician and formerdissident who served as the first democratically elected and non-CommunistPresident of Bulgaria, from 1990 to 1997. Zhelev was one of the most prominent figures of the 1989 Bulgarian Revolution, which ended the 35 year rule of PresidentTodor Zhivkov.[2] A member of theUnion of Democratic Forces, he was elected as President by the7th Grand National Assembly. Two years later, he won Bulgaria'sfirst direct presidential elections. He lost his party's nomination for his 1996 reelection campaign after losing a tough primary race toPetar Stoyanov.
Zhelev was born in 1935 into a modest village family in Veselinovo in north-eastern Bulgaria. He studied philosophy at Sofia University, graduating in 1958 and gaining a PhD in 1974, a remarkable achievement given that he was under a cloud as a dissident, having been expelled from the Communist Party in 1965. After his expulsion he endured years of “social parasitism”, or unemployment in communist terminology, which he spent in virtual internal exile in his wife’s village, scraping a living from odd jobs on farms.[3]
Zhelev was a member of theBulgarian Communist Party, but was expelled from it for political reasons in 1965. He was unemployed for six years since all employment in Bulgaria was state-regulated.[4]
In 1982, he published his controversial work,Fascism (Фашизмът).[5] Three weeks after the volume's publication in 1982, the book was removed from bookstores and libraries throughout the nation, as its description of the fascist states of Italy, Germany and Spain before, during, and after World War II made these regimes comparable to the Communist regimes in the Eastern Bloc.[6]
In 1988, just before theFall of Communism, Zhelev founded the Ruse Committee, and in 1989 he became a founding member and chairman of the Club for Support of Openness and the Reform (a time when many such democratic clubs were formed), which helped him to achieve the position of Chairman of the Coordinating Council of theUnion of Democratic Forces (Bulgarian: СДС, SDS) party.[7][8]
Zhelev was elected MP inJune 1990 for the 7th Grand National Assembly; the Assembly's main goal was to create a new democraticConstitution of Bulgaria. After the resignation of PresidentPetar Mladenov, the assembly elected Zhelev his successor on 1 August 1990.[6] He thus became the first head of state in 44 years who was not either a Communist orfellow traveler.
Under the new constitution adopted in July 1991, the president was to be elected directly by voters, for a maximum of two terms. The first such election was held inJanuary 1992. Zhelev led the field in the first round, held on 12 January. He then won in the runoff a week later againstVelko Valkanov (who was endorsed by theSocialists) with 52.8% of the votes to become Bulgaria's first directly elected head of state. He immediately suspended his membership in the UDF. While the new constitution only barred him from serving in a leadership post with the party, he wanted to appear to be above politics. Since then, convention in Bulgaria calls for the president to not be a formal member of a political party during his term.
Zhelev sought a second term in1996, but lost the UDF nomination to eventual winnerPetar Stoyanov.
After his defeat in the 1996 UDF primaries and after the end of his presidency in 1997, Zhelev remained in politics, but on a much smaller scale. He became Honorary Chair of theLiberal Democratic Union and Honorary Chair of theLiberal International and in 1997 went on to establish and preside over a foundation named after him. Zhelev was the initiator and president of theBalkan Political Club, a union of former political leaders fromSoutheast Europe. As part of the club he voiced his support for Turkey's accession to theEuropean Union.[9]
In 2009, Zhelev also voiced his opinion that Bulgaria should adopt apresidential system based upon the French model: "The country should have both prime minister and president, but the latter should be vested in far-reaching powers so that he may control the executive power".[10]
Zhelev died in Sofia at the age of 79 on 30 January 2015.[11][12]
Zhelyu Zhelev served as an Honorary Co-Chair for theWorld Justice Project (ABA).[13]
He was married toMaria Zheleva (3 April 1942 – 8 December 2013)[14] and has two daughters Yordanka (1963–1993) and Stanka (born 1966).Zhelev has two grandchildren from his daughter Stanka.[citation needed]
On 15 January 2010, Zhelev received theOrder 8-September for his contribution to the recognition of the independence of theRepublic of Macedonia from the formerYugoslavia.
Zhelev Peak onLoubet Coast,Antarctica is named after Zhelyu Zhelev "for his support for the Bulgarian Antarctic programme."[15]
Bulgaria: Grand Cross of theOrder of the Stara Planina (3 March 2005)
Spain: Grand Cross of theOrder of Civil Merit (1993)[16]
Portugal: Grand Collar of theOrder of Liberty (1994)[17]
Poland:Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (1994)[18]
South Korea:Grand Order of Mugunghwa (1995)
Republic of Macedonia:Order 8-September (2010)[19]
