Top 5 Distinguished Figures from Bulgaria

Bulgaria, one of the oldest European countries, is situated on the Eastern shores of the Black Sea. It is a renowned destination for seaside vacations, offering numerous beaches and aquatic attractions.

The nation is celebrated not only for its captivating scenery but also for its outstanding citizens, many of whom have achieved international recognition. Today, we will delve into the lives of several remarkable individuals from Bulgaria who have gained prominence beyond its borders.

Veselin Topalov

Photo: Veselin Topalov, Source: https://www.chess.com

Veselin Topalov, a world-famous Bulgarian chess grandmaster, claimed victory in the 2005 FIDE World Chess Championship and was honored with the "Chess Oscar" the same year. In January 2007, he secured the first position in the "Corus" tournament. At the peak of his career, Topalov reached an Elo rating of 2813, a feat surpassed only by a few other grandmasters worldwide, including Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, and Levon Aronian.

Christo Grozev

Photo: Christo Grozev, Source: https://www.icfj.org

Christo Grozev, a distinguished Bulgarian journalist-investigator for Bellingcat, a publication specialized in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT), gained international acclaim for his high-impact investigations. Among them, the scrutiny of the poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, UK, orchestrated by Russian FSB operatives. Grozev, collaborating with Bellingcat and The Insider, successfully confirmed the involvement of Russian agents Petrov and Boshirov in the crime. For this investigation, Grozev received the European Press Prize in the "investigative journalism" category and the London Press Club Prize for Digital Journalism in the "Investigative Reporting" category in 2019. Another of Grozev's significant works is the investigation into the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in 2020.

Hristo Stoichkov

Photo: Hristo Stoichkov,Source: https://www.planetfootball.com

Hristo Stoichkov, a legendary Bulgarian football striker, was awarded the Golden Ball and Golden Boot. His talent shone during a match for CSKA Sofia, where he scored a hat-trick against Barcelona in a Cup Winners' Cup game. Barcelona's coach Johan Cruyff insisted on signing Stoichkov for his club after that game. Stoichkov spent the following five years in Barcelona, scoring 60 goals in the first three seasons. However, his career's pinnacle was in 1994 when he led the Bulgarian national team to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup and was named the best player in Europe that year.

Stamen Grigorov

Photo: Stamen Grigorov, Source: https://www.tuko.co.ke

Stamen Grigorov, a renowned Bulgarian scientist and researcher, is famous for his discovery in 1905. He identified the bacterium responsible for yogurt fermentation, making it beneficial. The bacterium was later named Lactobacillus bulgaricus and is one of the most popular "friendly" bacteria worldwide. In Bulgaria, you can even visit a unique yogurt museum located in Grigorov's hometown of Studen Izvor in the western part of the country. The scientist is also widely known for his innovations in treating tuberculosis. In 1906, he developed an anti-tuberculosis vaccine, which remains a preventive and curative tool to this day.

Emilian Gebrev

Photo: Emilian Gebrev, Source: https://www.businesslive.co

Emilian Gebrev, a notable Bulgarian businessman and owner of arms and ammunition manufacturing plants, exhibited exceptional courage in 2014 during Russia's invasion of Ukrainian Crimea and the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Gebrev's company, Emco, was among the few that supported the capacity of the Ukrainian Army to defend itself from Russian aggression. However, explosions occurred in Gebrev's warehouses in Vrbětice, Czech Republic, resulting in two fatalities. Later, the Czech authorities identified Russian agents Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin, known for their involvement in the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, as being responsible for organizing the explosions. In 2015, Emilian Gebrev and his son were poisoned in the same manner. The businessman, who supplied ammunition to the Ukrainian army, fell into a coma and remained in it for over a month. Threats and sabotage at Gebrev's warehouses continue periodically to this day.