Boyan Radev ( bg, Боян Радев; born February 25, 1942 in Moshino,

Pernik Pernik ( bg, Перник ) is a town in western Bulgaria (about south-west of Sofia) with a population of 70,285 . Pernik is the most populated town in western Bulgaria after Sofia. It is the main town of Pernik Province and lies on both banks ...

) is a former Greco Roman wrestler from

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...

. He was the first Bulgarian two-time Olympic Games champion (1964 Tokyo and 1968 Mexico) and one-time world champion. Radev is also an

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

and artist sponsor.

Professional Wrestling

Boyan Radev wrestled for

Minyor Pernik FC Minyor ( bg, ФК Миньор) is a football club in Pernik, Bulgaria, that competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. Founded in 1919 as SC Krakra, the club's home ground since 1954 has been Stadion Minyor. The cl ...

, Orlin Pirdop,

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

and Spartak Sofia. Radev is a two-time Olympic gold medalist (1964 and 1968) and a 1966 world champion. He has also silver medals at the 1962 and 1967 World Cups as well as the 1968 European Championships.

Awards

Radev has been awarded

Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year ( bg, Спортист на годината на България, ''Sportist na godinata na Balgariya'') is an annual award given to the best Bulgarian sportsperson of the year. The winner is selected by author ...

in 1964, 1967, and 1968. He has been given the title Merited Master of Sport of Bulgaria. Inducted in the

United World Wrestling United World Wrestling (UWW) is the international governing body for the sport of amateur wrestling; its duties include overseeing wrestling at the Olympics. It presides over international competitions for various forms of wrestling, including ...

Greco-Roman Hall of Fame in 2009 Awarded

Pierre de Coubertin medal The Pierre de Coubertin medal is a special decoration awarded by the International Olympic Committee that "pays tribute to institutions with a pedagogical and educational role and to people who, through their research and the creation of intellect ...

in 2009. Elected Levski Sofia Sportsman of 20th Century.

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Committee for State Security

Radev ended his wrestling career shortly after the merger of Spartak Sofia and Levski Sofia in 1971. Thereafter, he worked for the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

in Bulgaria. He also worked for the Bulgarian Committee for State Security from 1964 onwards. Radev was a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

at the time of his retirement.

Art Collection

As Radev said himself, he became a vivid art collector after he was given a painting by the artist Stoyan Illiev. Since then, Radev has devoted part of his time to art collecting and philanthropy in Bulgaria. Radev has donated all of his wrestling medals as well as his Madara (Bulgarian State Order) and Peter the Great (Russian State Order) to the

National Historical Museum (Bulgaria) The National Historical Museum (''Национален исторически музей'', Natsionalen istoricheski muzey) in Sofia is Bulgaria's largest museum. It was founded on 5 May 1973. A new representative exhibition was opened in the bu ...

– making him the number one donor to the museum.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Radev, Boyan 1942 births Living people Olympic wrestlers of Bulgaria Wrestlers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Bulgarian male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for Bulgaria People from Pernik 20th-century art collectors Olympic medalists in wrestling World Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics European Wrestling Championships medalists