# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/todor-zhivkov
# Generated: 2026-08-13T20:23:17.687Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/todor-zhivkov"
name: "Todor Zhivkov"
slug: "todor-zhivkov"
description: "He held Bulgaria for 35 years — longer than any other Eastern Bloc leader after the war. A former partisan who rose through the Communist Party, Todor Zhivkov kept the country locked to Moscow while the economy shifted from fields to factories, until protests and party pressure finally broke his grip in 1989."
tagline: "Former General Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Todor_Zhivkov_%2C_eerste_secretaris_Communistische_Partij_en_president_van_Bulgari%2C_Bestanddeelnr_924-8077_(cropped).jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "1911-09-07"
deathDate: "1998-08-05"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           58.04
  momentum:             0.7001356852103121
  historical:           24.601164
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  65
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Politician"
    slug: "politician"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Founders"
    slug: "founders"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3117069/"
    handle:    "nm3117069"
sources:
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    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
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    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
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    title: "تودور جيفكوف"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Todor Zhivkov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Todor Jivkov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A2%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80_%D0%96%D1%8B%D1%9E%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%9E"
    title: "Тодар Жыўкаў"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A2%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%80_%D0%96%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2"
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    title: "টোডর জিভকভ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Tòdor Jívkov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://crh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todor_Jivkov"
    title: "Todor Jivkov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todor_%C5%BDivkov"
    title: "Todor Živkov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Живков Тодор Христов"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Todor Zhivkov"
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    title: "Todor Schiwkow"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Todor Ĵivkov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Todor Zhivkov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Todor Živkov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Todor Zhivkov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "تودور ژیوکوف"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todor_%C5%BDivkov"
    title: "Todor Živkov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todor_Jivkov"
    title: "Todor Jivkov"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%98%D7%95%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A8_%D7%96'%D7%99%D7%91%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%91"
    title: "טודור ז'יבקוב"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
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    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
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    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Todor_%C5%BDivkov"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://pl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Todor_%C5%BBiwkow"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://www.discogs.com/artist/3563033"
    title: "Discogs"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Todor Zhivkov fought in Bulgaria's wartime resistance, organizing the Chavdar Partisan Brigade in 1943 and coordinating with pro-Soviet forces during the September 1944 uprising. He became First Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1954, then Prime Minister in 1962, and Chairman of the State Council in 1971 — holding power for 35 years, the longest tenure of any Warsaw Pact leader. Under his rule Bulgaria submitted entirely to Soviet direction while pursuing closer ties with the West, and the country industrialized rapidly: in 1948 eighty percent of the population worked in agriculture; by 1988 fewer than one in five did. The 1980s brought stagnation, corruption, and a deteriorating international image. On 10 November 1989, senior party members forced him out after he refused to acknowledge mounting problems and public protests. Within a month communist rule collapsed, and within a year the People's Republic ceased to exist.