Zhelyu Zhelev
{{short description|President of Bulgaria from 1990 to 1997}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2014}}
{{Family name hatnote|Mitev|Zhelev|lang=Bulgarian}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Zhelyu Zhelev
| native_name = {{Nobold|Желю Желев}}
| native_name_lang = bg
| image = Желю Желев.jpg
| order = 1st
| office = President of Bulgaria
| term_start = 22 January 1992
| term_end = 22 January 1997
| primeminister = {{plainlist|
}}
| vicepresident = Blaga Dimitrova
| predecessor = Himself (as Chairman)
| successor = Petar Stoyanov
| office2 = Chairman (President) of Bulgaria
| term_start2 = 1 August 1990
| term_end2 = 22 January 1992
| primeminister2 = {{plainlist|
}}
| deputy2 = Atanas Semerdzhiev
| predecessor2 = Petar Mladenov
| successor2 = Himself (as President)
| order3 = Leader of the Union of Democratic Forces
| term_start3 = 7 December 1989
| term_end3 = 1 August 1990
| predecessor3 = Position established
| successor3 = Petar Beron
| birth_name = Zhelyu Mitev Zhelev
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1935|3|3}}
| birth_place = Veselinovo, Tsardom of Bulgaria
| death_date = {{death date and age |2015|01|30|1935|3|3|df=y}}
| death_place = Sofia, Bulgaria
| resting_place = Central Sofia Cemetery
| party = Independent (1990–2015)
| otherparty = {{plainlist|
- Union of Democratic Forces (1989–1990)
- Communist Party (1960–1965)
}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Maria Zheleva|1961|2013|end=d.}}
| children = Mitko (died 80 days after birth)
Yordanka (died in 1993){{cite news|title=Yordanka Zheleva|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1993/04/28/yordanka-zheleva/|access-date=28 November 2017|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=28 April 1993}}
Stanka
| occupation = {{hlist|Politician|philosopher}}
| signature = Signature of Zhelyu Zhelev.png
}}
{{Liberalism sidebar |Jim Crow}}
Zhelyu Mitev Zhelev ({{langx|bg|Желю Митев Желев}}; 3 March 1935 – 30 January 2015) was a Bulgarian politician and former dissident who served as the first democratically elected and non-Communist President 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 President Todor Zhivkov.{{cite book |last= Detrez|first=Raymond |author-link=Raymond Detrez |title=Historical Dictionary of Bulgaria |chapter=Zhelev, Zhelyo (1935- ) |place=Lanham, Maryland; Toronto; Oxford |publisher= The Scarecrow Press, Inc. |edition= 2nd |year= 2006 |pages= 491–493}} A member of the Union of Democratic Forces, he was elected as President by the 7th Grand National Assembly. Two years later, he won Bulgaria's first direct presidential elections. He lost his party's nomination for his 1996 reelection campaign after losing a tough primary race to Petar Stoyanov.
Biography
=Early life=
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.{{Cite web |title=Zhelyu Zhelev: Dissident who fought the dictatorship in Bulgaria before becoming its first democratically elected head of state |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/zhelyu-zhelev-dissident-who-fought-the-dictatorship-in-bulgaria-before-becoming-its-first-democratically-elected-head-of-state-10047438.html?amp |website=independent.co.uk|date=15 February 2015 }}
= Dissident =
Zhelev was a member of the Bulgarian 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.{{cite book |author=Harris M. Lentz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6HKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 |title=Heads of States and Governments Since 1945 |date=4 February 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-26490-2 |page=117}}
In 1982, he published his controversial work, Fascism (Фашизмът).{{Cite book |last1=Желев |first1=Желю |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXCGAAAAMAAJ |title=Фашизмът |last2=Желев |first2=Желю Митев |date=1990 |publisher=Social Science Monographs |isbn=978-0-88033-966-7 |language=bg}} 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.{{cite book|author1=Lynda Lee Kaid|author2=Christina Holtz-Bacha|title=Encyclopedia of Political Communication|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCd1AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT1015|date=21 December 2007|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-6562-9|page=1015}}
= SDS =
In 1988, just before the Fall 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 the Union of Democratic Forces (Bulgarian: СДС, SDS) party.{{cite web|title=Профил на Желю Желев в "omda|url=http://www.omda.bg/page.php?IDMenu=364&IDLang=1|publisher=omda.bg|access-date=16 December 2014}}[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/UDF_Coordinating_Council_1990 Coordinating Council of the Union of Democratic Forces.] Demokratsiya Newspaper, 27 April 1990.
= MP and President =
Zhelev was elected MP in June 1990 for the 7th Grand National Assembly; the Assembly's main goal was to create a new democratic Constitution of Bulgaria. After the resignation of President Petar Mladenov, the assembly elected Zhelev his successor on 1 August 1990. He thus became the first head of state in 44 years who was not either a Communist or fellow traveler.
= 1992 presidential election =
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 in January 1992. Zhelev led the field in the first round, held on 12 January. He then won in the runoff a week later against Velko Valkanov (who was endorsed by the Socialists) 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.
= 1996 presidential election =
Zhelev sought a second term in 1996, but lost the UDF nomination to eventual winner Petar Stoyanov.
= Later political career =
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 the Liberal Democratic Union and Honorary Chair of the Liberal International and in 1997 went on to establish and preside over a foundation named after him. Zhelev was the initiator and president of the Balkan Political Club, a union of former political leaders from Southeast Europe. As part of the club he voiced his support for Turkey's accession to the European Union.{{cite web|title=Bulgaria Ex-President Zhelev: Turkey Should Be in EU Already|url=http://www.novinite.com/articles/108748/|work=Novinite.com|publisher=Sofia News Agency|access-date=17 March 2014}}
In 2009, Zhelev also voiced his opinion that Bulgaria should adopt a presidential 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".{{cite web|title=Calls for Electing Prime Minister Borisov for Bulgaria's President Gain Momentum|url=http://www.novinite.com/articles/106342/Calls+for+Electing+Prime+Minister+Borisov+for+Bulgaria%27s+President+Gain+Momentum|work=Novinite.com|publisher=Sofia News Agency|access-date=17 March 2014}}
Zhelev died in Sofia at the age of 79 on 30 January 2015.{{Cite web|url=https://www.novinite.com/articles/166247/Bulgaria%27s+Former+President+Zhelyu+Zhelev+Dies|title=Bulgaria's Former President Zhelyu Zhelev Dies|work=Novinite.com|publisher=Sofia News Agency}}{{cite news| url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-30/zhelev-bulgaria-s-first-post-communist-president-dies-at-79 | work=Bloomberg | first=Slav | last=Okov | title=Zhelyu Zhelev, Bulgarian Post-Communist Leader, Dies at 79 | date=30 January 2015}}
=World Justice Project=
Family
He was married to Maria Zheleva (3 April 1942 – 8 December 2013){{cite news |title=Почина Мария Желева, съпруга на президента Желю Желев |url=https://www.mediapool.bg/pochina-mariya-zheleva-sapruga-na-prezidenta-zhelyu-zhelev-news214482.html |work=Mediapool.bg |date=2013-12-09 |access-date=2020-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212221732/https://www.mediapool.bg/pochina-mariya-zheleva-sapruga-na-prezidenta-zhelyu-zhelev-news214482.html |archive-date=2019-12-12 |url-status=live}} and has two daughters Yordanka (1963–1993) and Stanka (born 1966).
Zhelev has two grandchildren from his daughter Stanka.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}
Awards and accolades
On 15 January 2010, Zhelev received the Order 8-September for his contribution to the recognition of the independence of the Republic of Macedonia from the former Yugoslavia.
Zhelev Peak on Loubet Coast, Antarctica is named after Zhelyu Zhelev "for his support for the Bulgarian Antarctic programme."[https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/scar/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=138147 Zhelev Peak.] SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
= National honours =
- {{Flag|Bulgaria}}: Grand Cross of the Order of the Stara Planina (3 March 2005)
= Foreign honours =
- {{Flag|Spain}}: Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (1993){{cite web|url=https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1993/05/22/pdfs/A15637-15637.pdf|title=Boletín Oficial del Estado|publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|date=10 June 2003|access-date=21 February 2015|language=es}}
- {{Flag|Portugal}}: Grand Collar of the Order of Liberty (1994){{cite web | url=http://www.ordens.presidencia.pt/?idc=154 | title=ENTIDADES ESTRANGEIRAS AGRACIADAS COM ORDENS PORTUGUESAS - Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas }}
- {{Flag|Poland}}: Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (1994){{cite web|title=Order Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej|url=https://www.prezydent.pl/prezydent/kompetencje/ordery-i-odznaczenia/ordery/order-zaslugi-rp|website=Prezydent.pl|access-date=April 21, 2023}}
- {{Flag|South Korea}}: Grand Order of Mugunghwa (1995)
- {{Flag|North Macedonia|name=Republic of Macedonia}}: Order 8-September (2010){{cite web|title=Macedonia President: Bulgaria Leader in Recognizing Our Independence|url=http://www.novinite.com/articles/112010/Macedonia+President%3A+Bulgaria+Leader+in+Recognizing+Our+Independence|work=Novinite.com|publisher=Sofia News Agency|access-date=6 March 2014}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{cite journal |title= Zhelyu Zhelev: First Democratically Elected President of Bulgaria Who Fought Corruption and Visited Georgi Markov's Grave in Britain |journal = The Times |date = 18 February 2015 |url= https://www.thetimes.com/article/zhelyu-zhelev-wrks2h950sc |accessdate= 11 January 2025}}
- {{cite web |url = http://sofiaecho.com/2003/04/17/632148_zhelyu-zhelev-the-dissident-president |title ="Zhelyu Zhelev — The dissident president |publisher = Sofia Echo |author= Ivan Vatahov |date =April 17, 2003 |accessdate= January 27, 2010}}.
- {{cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Richard |title=Zhelyu Zhelev: Dissident who fought the dictatorship in Bulgaria before becoming its first democratically elected head of state - He spent years in internal exile, scraping a living from odd jobs on farms |journal= The Independent |date= 15 February 2015 |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/zhelyu-zhelev-dissident-who-fought-the-dictatorship-in-bulgaria-before-becoming-its-first-10047438.html |access-date= November 14, 2018}}
- {{cite news |author= The Associated Press |title= Zhelyu Zhelev, communist-era dissident who became president of Bulgaria, dies |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= February 2, 2015 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/zhelyu-zhelev-communist-era-dissident-who-became-president-of-bulgaria-dies/2015/02/02/3af9f10e-a8c9-11e4-a06b-9df2002b86a0_story.html?noredirect=on |access-date= November 14, 2018}}
- {{cite journal |author= The Associated Press |title=Former Bulgarian president Zhelyu Zhelev, first democratically elected leader, dies at 79 |journal= Times Colonist |date= January 30, 2015 |url= https://www.timescolonist.com/former-bulgarian-president-zhelyu-zhelev-first-democratically-elected-leader-dies-at-79-1.1747596 |access-date= November 14, 2018}}
- {{cite news |title= Zhelyu Zhelev, Bulgarian president - obituary; Bulgaria's first democratically elected president who laid the groundwork for his country's entry into the EU |publisher=The Telegraph |date= 12 February 2015 |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11408864/Zhelyu-Zhelev-Bulgarian-president-obituary.html|access-date= November 16, 2018}}
{{BulgarianPresidents}}
{{Fall of Communism}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhelev, Zhelyu}}
Category:Presidents of Bulgaria
Category:20th-century Bulgarian philosophers
Category:Sofia University alumni