# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/zhelyu-zhelev
# Generated: 2026-08-15T06:25:09.781Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/zhelyu-zhelev"
name: "Zhelyu Zhelev"
slug: "zhelyu-zhelev"
description: "Zhelyu Mitev Zhelev 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. 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."
tagline: "President of Bulgaria (1935-2015)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/%D0%96%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8E_%D0%96%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B2.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "1935-03-03"
deathDate: "2015-01-30"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           52.51
  momentum:             0
  historical:           22.089676
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://bg.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%96%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8E_%D0%96%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B2"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%88_%D8%AC%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%81"
    title: "جيليو جيليف"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheliu_Zhelev"
    title: "Zheliu Zhelev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelyu_Jelev"
    title: "Jelyu Jelev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be_x_old.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%96%D1%8D%D0%BB%D1%8E_%D0%96%D1%8D%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%9E"
    title: "Жэлю Жэлеў"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%96%D1%8D%D0%BB%D1%8E_%D0%96%D1%8D%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%9E"
    title: "Жэлю Жэлеў"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%96%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8E_%D0%96%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B2"
    title: "Желю Желев"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A9liu_J%C3%A9lev"
    title: "Jéliu Jélev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDelju_%C5%BDelev"
    title: "Želju Želev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schelju_Schelew"
    title: "Schelju Schelew"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhelyu_Zhelev"
    title: "Zhelyu Zhelev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B4elju_%C4%B4elev"
    title: "Ĵelju Ĵelev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheliu_Zhelev"
    title: "Zheliu Zhelev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheliu_Zhelev"
    title: "Zheliu Zhelev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%98%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%88_%DA%98%D9%84%D9%81"
    title: "ژلیو ژلف"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDelju_%C5%BDelev"
    title: "Želju Želev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeliou_Jelev"
    title: "Jeliou Jelev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%96'%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%95_%D7%96'%D7%9C%D7%91"
    title: "ז'ליו ז'לב"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zselju_Zselev"
    title: "Zselju Zselev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhelyu_Zhelev"
    title: "Zhelyu Zhelev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://io.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhelyu_Zhelev"
    title: "Zhelyu Zhelev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDelju_%C5%BDelev"
    title: "Želju Želev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%82%A7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B8%E3%82%A7%E3%83%AC%E3%83%95"
    title: "ジェリュ・ジェレフ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%9F%E1%83%94%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98%E1%83%A3_%E1%83%9F%E1%83%94%E1%83%9A%E1%83%94%E1%83%95%E1%83%98"
    title: "ჟელიუ ჟელევი"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%A0%A4%EB%A5%98_%EC%A0%A4%EB%A0%88%ED%94%84"
    title: "젤류 젤레프"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDelju_%C5%BDelev"
    title: "Želju Želev"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q276567"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump