Nikolai Todorov Todorov (; June 6, 1921 – August 27, 2003) was a Bulgarian historian. In 1990, he briefly served as acting president of

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Life and career

Todorov was born in Varna and, as he noted himself, he was of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

descent. Todorov was inspired to go into politics after the trial of Traycho Kostov, whom he had shared a prison cell with during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After a distinguished academic career, which included a position at the

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

, he joined the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He would later serve as the Bulgarian representative to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

and the Bulgarian Ambassador to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

(1978–1983). Following Bulgaria's departure from

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, Todorov became Speaker of the

National Assembly of Bulgaria The National Assembly () is the Unicameralism, unicameral parliament and Legislature, legislative body of the Republic of Bulgaria. The first National Assembly was established in 1879 with the Tarnovo Constitution. During the People's Republic ...

, leading him to serve as acting president.

Personal life

Todorov was married with three children. He is the father of

Maria Todorova Maria Nikolaeva Todorova () (born 5 January 1949, Sofia) is a Bulgarian historian who is best known for her influential book, ''Imagining the Balkans'', in which she applies Edward Said's notion of "Orientalism" to the Balkans. She is the daughter ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Todorov, Nikolai Presidents of Bulgaria Permanent delegates of Bulgaria to UNESCO Members of the National Assembly (Bulgaria) Members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) Foreign members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Academic staff of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Ambassadors of Bulgaria to Greece Sofia University alumni Politicians from Varna, Bulgaria 1921 births 2003 deaths