Zhelyu Zhelev, Bulgaria’s first democratically elected President, dies

Zhelyu Zhelev, a philosopher and communist-era dissident, who became Bulgaria’s first democratically elected President in 1990, died on Friday, his family said. He was 79.

Zhelev was the founder and first leader of the pro-democracy Union of Democratic Forces after the demise of the country’s Stalinist regime in 1989. He served as President until 1997.

Zhelev is survived by his daughter.