Zhelyu Zhelev: The philosopher who challenged Bulgarian totalitarianism

Zhelyu Zhelev, the first democratically elected president of Bulgaria following the collapse of the communist regime, left a significant intellectual legacy through his critique of totalitarianism. A philosopher by training, Zhelev was once a specialist in Marxist-Leninist philosophy but was expelled from the Communist Party after criticizing the dogmatic application of Lenin’s definition of matter.

His seminal work, originally titled ‘Totalitarian State’ in 1967 and later retitled ‘Fascism’ in 1982 to bypass censorship, argued that there were structural similarities between fascism and communism. Although the book was banned and recalled within three weeks of its release, it became a foundational text for the democratization movement in the late 1980s by challenging the legitimacy of the Soviet-style one-party system.

Zhelev served as president from 1990 to 1997, marking the transition from the long-standing dictatorship of Todor Zhivkov to a democratic era. He passed away in 2015 at the age of 79.