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10 Most Famous People from Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, Greece, and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. 

Bulgarians are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and Southeast Europe. Let鈥檚 look at the 10 most famous people from Bulgaria.

1. Niki Kanchev

Nikolay Kunchev – Bulgarian showman and journalist by Biso –

Niki Kanchev is a Bulgarian television presenter, famous for hosting the Bulgarian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? from 2001 to 2014. After he became popular with the show, he was selected as a host of Big Brother Bulgaria on the same television channel, Nova Television.

Later on, Kanchev also hosted the game show 1 vs. 100 known in Bulgaria as One versus All, which made him one of the most frequently appearing hosts on the channel. 

2. Elisaveta Bagryana

Bulgarian poet Elisaveta Bagryana –

Elisaveta Bagryana was a Bulgarian poet who wrote her first verses while living with her family in Veliko Tarnovo from 1907 to 1908. She, along with Dora Gabe, is considered one of the first ladies of Bulgarian women’s literature. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times.

Bagryana passed her life surrounded by words, editing a number of magazines and writing. Her works have been translated into over 30 languages. Her poems are most recently available in a book entitled Penelope of the 21st Century: Selected poems of Elisaveta Bagryana, translated by Brenda Walker. 

3. Elitsa Todorova

Elitsa Todorova by Mutter Erde –

Elitsa Todorova is a Bulgarian folk singer and professional percussionist. Todorova formed the duo Elitsa & Stoyan and they represented Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki

Todorova also represented Bulgaria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malm枚. The drums, The Cosmic tree, The Olympic drums of Bulgaria, and the Drum-Pyramid are among the tools with which she has left an individual impact on ethno-music.

4. Ivan Mrkvi膷ka

Ivan Mrkvi膷ka –

Ivan Mrkvi膷ka was a Czech-born painter and an active contributor to the artistic life of newly liberated Bulgaria in the late 19th and early 20th century. He is regarded as one of the founders of the modern Bulgarian fine art tradition.

Ivan鈥檚 most significant achievements are in the everyday life genre, although he also worked in the historic painting sphere and is the author of many high-quality portraits. One of the creators of the then-coat of arms of Bulgaria and the coat of arms of Sofia, he became a Bulgarian Academy of Sciences member in 1918.

5. Georgi Lozanov

Georgi Lozanov by Kazhagiwara –

Georgi Lozanov known as the father of accelerated learning, was a Bulgarian scientist, neurologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, and educator, creator of suggestology, suggestopedia, and integrated psychotherapy. 

Lozanov developed suggestopedia, a learning and teaching theory based on his early 1960s study of suggestion which is known as suggestology. Lozanov’s theory and practice triggered an accelerated learning movement in the West, where various techniques not originally included in Lozanov’s theory were introduced. Such techniques included elements such as breathing, visualization, and biofeedback.

6. Nikolay Nenovsky

Nikolay Nenovsky –

Nikolay Nenovsky is a Bulgarian economist, working in the fields of monetary theory and policy, monetary history, and history of economic thought. He is a Professor of economics at the University of Picardie Jules Verne, LEFMI,  Amiens, France from 2012. 

Nikolay Nenovsky is currently an associate researcher at SU HSE, department of theoretical economics, and also an associate professor at RUDN University. Since June 2020 he is a Member of the Governing Council of the Bulgarian Central Bank.

7. Nikola Korabov

Nikola Korabov was a Bulgarian film director and screenwriter. He directed thirteen films between 1956 and 1999. 

His 1962 film Tyutyun was entered into the 1963 Cannes Film Festival. His 1965 film Bull was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival. His 1971 film Wrathful Journey was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival.

8. Maria Bakalova

Maria Bakalova at 麻豆APP Fashion Week, 2021 by Patou Cornette –

Maria Bakalova is a Bulgarian actress. She has received various accolades, including a Critics’ Choice Movie Award and nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

Bakalova began her career in Bulgarian cinema by starring in film productions while attending the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia. She appeared in films such as Transgression (2017), The Father (2019), Last Call (2020), and Women Do Cry (2021). 

Since her international breakthrough in the 2020 film Borat Subsequent Moviefilm; earning her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, she has been a part of several American productions including Judd Apatow’s The Bubble (2022) and the A24 horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022).

9. Stefan Danailov 

Stefan Danailov was a Bulgarian actor who served as Minister of Culture of Bulgaria from August 2005 to July 2009.

His best-known work was as Major Deyanov in the series At Each Kilometer. He participated in numerous films and plays for which he won a lot of prizes. For 20 years he was a professor at the Theatre Academy in Sofia, teaching there since 1988.

In 2019, The Bulgarian National Theater organized the biggest memorial service in Stefan Danailov’s name.

10. Georgi Djulgerov

Georgi Djulgerov is a Bulgarian film director, screenwriter, producer, and professor at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts.

Djulgerov has also staged theatre productions and directed several TV projects. He is a full-time professor in Film and TV Directing at the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria, and a voting member of the European Film Academy. He was a jury member at the 45th Berlin International Film Festival, the 20th Moscow International Film Festival and the 2005 Molodist International Film Festival.