List of heads of state of Bulgaria

This is a list of the heads of the modern Bulgarian state, from the establishment of the Principality of Bulgaria to the present day.

It also lists the general secretaries of the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1948–1990. From 1948 onwards, the general secretary was the country's de facto chief executive.

Principality of Bulgaria (1878–1908)

Prince			Reign			House	Claim
	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Reign start	Reign end	Duration
		Alexander I Template:Lang 1857–1893 Template:Small	29 April 1879	7 September 1886 Template:Small	Template:Age in years and days	Battenberg	Elected by the First Grand National Assembly
		Ferdinand I Template:Lang 1861–1948 Template:Small	7 July 1887	5 October 1908	Template:Age in years and days	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry	Elected by the Third Grand National Assembly

Tsardom of Bulgaria (1908–1946)

Tsar			Reign			House	Claim
	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Reign start	Reign end	Duration
		Ferdinand I Template:Lang 1861–1948 Template:Small	5 October 1908	3 October 1918 Template:Small	Template:Age in years and days	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry	Proclaimed himself as Tsar
		Boris III Template:Lang 1894–1943 Template:Small	3 October 1918	28 August 1943 Template:Small	Template:Age in years and days	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry	Son of Ferdinand I
		Simeon II Template:Lang Born 1937 Template:Small	28 August 1943	15 September 1946 Template:Small	Template:Age in years and days	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry	Son of Boris III
		Kiril, Prince of Preslav Template:Lang 1895–1945 Template:Small	28 August 1943	9 September 1944 Template:Small	Template:Age in years and days	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry	First Regency Council For Simeon II
		Bogdan Filov Template:Lang 1883–1945 Template:Small				—
		Template:Small Nikola Mihov Template:Lang 1891–1945 Template:Small
		Todor Pavlov Template:Lang 1890–1977 Template:Small	9 September 1944	15 September 1946 Template:Small	Template:Age in years and days	—	Second Regency Council For Simeon II
		Venelin Ganev Template:Lang 1880–1966 Template:Small
		Tsvetko Boboshevski Template:Lang 1884–1952 Template:Small

People's Republic of Bulgaria (1946–1990)

Status

Head of State			Term of office			Duration	Political party
	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Election	Took office	Left office
Chairman of the Provisional Presidency
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Vasil Kolarov Template:Lang 1877–1950 Template:Small	—	15 September 1946	9 December 1947	Template:Age in years and days	BKP
Chairman of the Presidium of the National Assembly
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Mincho Neychev Template:Lang 1887–1956 Template:Small	—	9 December 1947	27 May 1950	Template:Age in years and days	BKP
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Georgi Damyanov Template:Lang 1892–1958 Template:Small	—	27 May 1950	27 November 1958†	Template:Age in years and days	BKP
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Georgi Kulishev Template:Lang 1885–1974 Template:Small	—	27 November 1958	30 November 1958	Template:Age in years and days	BKP
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Template:Ill Template:Lang 1906–1987 Template:Small	—				BZNS
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Dimitar Ganev Template:Lang 1898–1964 Template:Small	—	30 November 1958	20 April 1964†	Template:Age in years and days	BKP
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Georgi Kulishev Template:Lang 1885–1974 Template:Small	—	20 April 1964	23 April 1964	Template:Age in years and days	BKP
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Template:Ill Template:Lang 1906–1987 Template:Small	—				BZNS
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Georgi Traykov Template:Lang 1898–1975 Template:Small	—	23 April 1964	7 July 1971	Template:Age in years and days	BZNS
Chairman of the State Council
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Todor Zhivkov Template:Lang 1911–1998 Template:Small	—	7 July 1971	17 November 1989	Template:Age in years and days	BKP
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Petar Mladenov Template:Lang 1936–2000 Template:Small	—	17 November 1989	3 April 1990	Template:Age in years and days	BKP
Chairman (President) of the Republic
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Petar Mladenov Template:Lang 1936–2000 Template:Small	(Apr) 1990	3 April 1990	6 July 1990	Template:Age in years and days	BSP
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Stanko Todorov Template:Lang 1920–1996 Template:Small	—	6 July 1990	17 July 1990	Template:Age in years and days	BSP
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Nikolai Todorov Template:Lang 1921–2003 Template:Small	—	17 July 1990	1 August 1990	Template:Age in years and days	BSP
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Zhelyu Zhelev Template:Lang 1935–2015 Template:Small	(Jul–Aug) 1990	1 August 1990	15 November 1990	Template:Age in years and days	SDS

General Secretaries of the Bulgarian Communist Party (1948–1990)

General Secretary			Term of office			Notes
	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Took office	Left office	Duration
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Georgi Dimitrov Template:Lang 1882–1949 Template:Small	27 December 1948	2 July 1949	Template:Age in years and days	Also Prime Minister (1946–1949)
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Valko Chervenkov Template:Lang 1900–1980 Template:Small	2 July 1949	4 March 1954	Template:Age in years and days	Also Prime Minister (1950–1956)
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Todor Zhivkov Template:Lang 1911–1998 Template:Small	4 March 1954	10 November 1989	Template:Age in years and days	Also Prime Minister (1962–1971), and Chairman of the Council of State (1971–1989)
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Petar Mladenov Template:Lang 1936–2000 Template:Small	10 November 1989	2 February 1990	Template:Age in years and days	Also Chairman of the Council of State (1989–1990)

Republic of Bulgaria (1990–present)

President			Term of office			Duration	Political party
	Portrait	Name Template:Small	Election	Took office	Left office
Chairman (President) of the Republic
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Zhelyu Zhelev Template:Lang 1935–2015 Template:Small	(Jul-Aug) 1990	15 November 1990	22 January 1992	Template:Age in years and days	SDS
President of the Republic
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Zhelyu Zhelev Template:Lang 1935–2015 Template:Small	1992	22 January 1992	22 January 1997	Template:Age in years years	SDS
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Petar Stoyanov Template:Lang Born 1952 Template:Small	1996	22 January 1997	22 January 2002	Template:Age in years years	SDS
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Georgi Parvanov Template:Lang Born 1957 Template:Small	2001 2006	22 January 2002	22 January 2012	Template:Age in years years	BSP
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Rosen Plevneliev Template:Lang Born 1964 Template:Small	2011	22 January 2012	22 January 2017	Template:Age in years years	GERB
style="background:Template:Party color;" |		Rumen Radev Template:Lang Born 1963 Template:Small	2016 2021	22 January 2017	IncumbentTemplate:Efn	Template:Age in years and days	Independent Template:Nowrap

Timeline

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Define $today = {{#time:d/m/Y}}

Colors =

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 id:Battenberg  value:rgb(0.573,0.463,0)     legend:House_of_Battenberg
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 id:bcp         value:rgb(0.79,0,0)          legend:Communist_Party
 id:bzns        value:rgb(0.98,0.55,0.11)    legend:Agrarian_National_Union
 id:bsp         value:rgb(0.84,0.1,0.13)     legend:Socialist_Party
 id:sds         value:rgb(0.16,0.36,0.7)     legend:Union_of_Democratic_Forces 
 id:gerb        value:rgb(0,0.58,0.8)        legend:GERB

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DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1879 till:31/12/{{#expr:{{#time:Y}}+1}} TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:10 start:1880 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1879

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bar:FerdinandI
bar:BorisIII
bar:SimeonII
bar:Dimitrov
bar:Kolarov
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bar:Chervenkov
bar:Damyanov
bar:Zhivkov
bar:Kulishev
bar:Georgiev
bar:Ganev
bar:Traykov
bar:Mladenov
bar:Todorov
bar:Todorov1
bar:Zhelev
bar:Stoyanov
bar:Parvanov
bar:Plevneliev
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PlotData =

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bar:AlexanderI
 from: 29/04/1879 till: 07/09/1886 color:Battenberg  text:"Alexander I"
bar:FerdinandI
 from: 07/07/1887 till: 03/10/1918 color:S-C-G-K     text:"Ferdinand I"
bar:BorisIII
 from: 03/10/1918 till: 28/08/1943 color:S-C-G-K     text:"Boris III"
bar:SimeonII
 from: 28/08/1943 till: 15/09/1946 color:S-C-G-K     text:"Simeon II"
bar:Dimitrov
 from: 01/01/1946 till: 02/07/1949 color:bcp         text:"Georgi Dimitrov (de-facto)"
bar:Kolarov
 from: 15/09/1946 till: 09/12/1947 color:bcp         text:"Vasil Kolarov"
bar:Neychev
 from: 09/12/1947 till: 27/05/1950 color:bcp         text:"Mincho Neychev"
bar:Chervenkov
 from: 02/07/1949 till: 04/03/1954 color:bcp         text:"Valko Chervenkov (de-facto)"
bar:Damyanov
 from: 27/05/1950 till: 27/11/1958 color:bcp         text:"Georgi Damyanov"
bar:Zhivkov
 from: 04/03/1954 till: 10/11/1989 color:bcp         text:"Todor Zhivkov (de-facto)"
bar:Kulishev
 from: 27/11/1958 till: 30/11/1958 color:bcp
 from: 20/04/1964 till: 23/04/1964 color:bcp         text:"Georgi Kulishev (acting)"
bar:Georgiev
 from: 27/11/1958 till: 30/11/1958 color:bzns
 from: 20/04/1964 till: 23/04/1964 color:bzns        text:"Nikolay Georgiev (acting)"
bar:Ganev
 from: 30/11/1958 till: 20/04/1964 color:bcp         text:"Dimitar Ganev"
bar:Traykov
 from: 23/04/1964 till: 07/07/1971 color:bzns        text:"Georgi Traykov"
bar:Mladenov
 from: 10/11/1989 till: 03/04/1990 color:bcp
 from: 03/04/1990 till: 06/07/1990 color:bsp         text:"Petar Mladenov"
bar:Todorov
 from: 06/07/1990 till: 17/07/1990 color:bsp         text:"Stanko Todorov (acting)"
bar:Todorov1
 from: 17/07/1990 till: 01/08/1990 color:independent text:"Nikolai Todorov (acting)"
bar:Zhelev
 from: 01/08/1990 till: 22/01/1997 color:sds         text:"Zhelyu Zhelev"
bar:Stoyanov
 from: 22/01/1997 till: 22/01/2002 color:sds         text:"Petar Stoyanov"
bar:Parvanov
 from: 22/01/2002 till: 22/01/2012 color:bsp         text:"Georgi Parvanov"
bar:Plevneliev
 from: 22/01/2012 till: 22/01/2017 color:gerb        text:"Rosen Plevneliev"
bar:Radev
 from: 22/01/2017 till: $today     color:independent text:"Rumen Radev"

</timeline>

Head of state titles

State	Years	Title
Template:Flag	1879–1908	Prince of Bulgaria
Template:Flag	1908–1946	Tsar of Bulgaria
Template:Flag	1946–1947	Chairman of the Provisional Presidency
	1947–1971	Chairman of the Presidium of the National Assembly
	1971–1990	Chairman of the State Council
	1990	Chairman (President) of the Republic
Template:Flag	1990–1992
	1992–present	President of the Republic

See also

• Politics of Bulgaria
• List of Bulgarian monarchs
• List of Bulgarian regents
• List of heads of government of Bulgaria
• List of presidents of Bulgaria (1990–present)
• List of first deputy chairmen of the State Council of Bulgaria
• Vice President of Bulgaria

External links

• List of Bulgarian heads of state and government
• The President of the Republic of Bulgaria
• King Simeon