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In memoriam:

Renowned Bulgarian Prof. Nikola Altankov has passed away at the age of 93

Nikola Altankov
Photo: BGNES

On August 10 in Sofia, at the age of 93, Prof. Nikola Altankov passed away. His life was marked by trials and dedication to the Bulgarian cause, which did not prevent him from being an eternal optimist for the future of his homeland.


At the age of 16, he was expelled from the First Boys' High School in Sofia for publishing a student newspaper. He was forcibly recruited by the State Security, and later at the age of 18 he was imprisoned in the Belene concentration camp. In 1963, he graduated from English Philology at Sofia University. 

He managed to escape through Helsinki to the West during an excursion to the USSR. In 1967, he settled in the USA where he graduated from the University of Santa Barbara with a degree in history. He taught at American universities, founded his own corporation for applied research in political science and sociology. 

He researched Bulgarian emigration to the USA and Latin America in the last century. 


He was a member of the Academy of Political Science in New York, the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies and the Scientific Group on Bulgarian Studies. In the USA he was the chairman of the Bulgarian National Front in Exile. He returned to Bulgaria in 1995.

Prof. Nikola Altunkov has over 200 publications. He is the author of 6 books in the USA and 6 in Bulgaria. His latest monograph from 2018 is “History of the Bulgarian Communist Party 1919–1989”. 

Two years ago, in front of the website desant.net, he himself uttered his epitaph: “He didn’t want much and he got it. And then he died”.

May he rest in peace!



Edited by Ivo Ivanov
English publication: R. Petkova

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