First Lady of Bulgaria () is an unofficial honorific applied to the wife of the

president of Bulgaria The president of the Republic of Bulgaria is the head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or ...

. Officially, her term as first lady is concurrent with her husband's term in office. The first lady often accompanies the head of state during

state visits A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

and official functions. The title of

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

was first used in Bulgaria in the early 1990s, following the example of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The current first lady is

Desislava Radeva Desislava Radeva ( bg, Десислава Радева) is a Bulgarian public figure and the current First Lady of Bulgaria since January 2017, being the wife of President Rumen Radev. Early life and career Born Desislava Gencheva in Burgas on 9 ...

, the wife of the 5th

, Rumen Radev. At present, have been five first ladies of the

Republic of 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 Macedon ...

, including Radeva.

Spouses of the general secretary of the
Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; bg, Българска Комунистическа Партия (БКП), Balgarska komunisticheska partiya (BKP)) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 198 ...

* Roza Yulievna – (27 December 1948 – 2 July 1949) * Elena Dimitrova – (15 July 1949 – 26 January 1954) *

Mara Maleeva-Zhivkova Mara Hristova Maleeva-Zhivkova (born July 12, 1911, Plovdiv; died October 23, 1971, Sofia, People's Republic of Bulgaria) was a Bulgarian physician, and the First Lady of Bulgaria (1954–1971) as the wife of Todor Zhivkov, who was the General Se ...

– (4 March 1954 – 23 October 1971) * ''Position Vacant'' – (23 October 1971 – 10 November 1989) * Galya Mladenova (10 November 1989 – 2 February 1990)

List of first ladies

Maria Zheleva Maria Ivanova Marinova-Zheleva ( bg, Мария Иванова Маринова-Желева, 3 April 1942 – 8 December 2013), sometimes transliterated as Mariya Zheleva or Mariya Jeleva, was a Bulgarian historian, film editor, film director, a ...

– (1 August 1990 – 22 January 1997) *

Antonina Stoyanova Antonina Stoyanova ( bg, Антонина Стоянова), née Naydenova, is a Bulgarian IP lawyer, diplomat and social activist, who was the First Lady of Bulgaria between 1997 and 2002, as the wife of the President Petar Stoyanov. She receiv ...

– (22 January 1997 – 22 January 2002) *

Zorka Parvanova Zorka Petrova Parvanova ( bg, Зорка Петрова Първанова; born 4 May 1958, in Razlog) is a Bulgarian historian and former First Lady of Bulgaria from 2002 until 2012. She is the wife of Georgi Parvanov, the former President of ...

– (22 January 2002 – 22 January 2012) *

Yuliyana Plevnelieva Yuliyana Plevnelieva ( bg, Юлияна Юриева Плевнелиева; born 28 January 1975) is a Bulgarian journalist and First Lady of Bulgaria from 2012 until 2017. She is the ex-wife of former Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev, whom ...

– (22 January 2012 – 22 January 2017) *

– (22 January 2017 – Present)

References

{{First Ladies and Gentlemen

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 Macedon ...