Former Bulgarian President (1990 – 1997) Zhelyu Zhelev has died at the age of 79.

Being one of the most prominent dissidents, Dr. Zhelev was the first president of this country, elected in a democratic manner. He was born in the village of Veselinovo, Shumen region and was a philosophy graduate of the Sofia University, later expelled from the communist party as an anti-Marxist. 

In 1982 and despite the communist censorship Dr. Zhelev wrote his book The Fascism which gave hope to intelligent people and the Bulgarian society as a whole. After the democratic changes in 1989 he became the natural leader of the newly formed opposition – one of the founders of the Union of Democratic Forces and a chair of its coordination council. Zhelyu Zhelev was elected an MP at the Grand National Assembly and was elected president by the parliament in 1990. In the beginning of 1992 he was elected through direct polls and he took the presidential position till 1997. After the end of his mandate he established the Doctor Zhelyu Zhelev Foundation. He wrote numerous books and had prestigious state awards.