Aleksandar Lilov

Aleksandar Vasilev Lilov (; 31 August 1933 – 20 July 2013) was a Bulgarian politician and philosopher. At his career's height during the People's Republic of Bulgaria, he was described as the second most powerful man of the regime; however, he fell out of favor in 1983 and lost his power. He made a strong political comeback during the democratic transition and was elected chairman of the Bulgarian Communist Party. He led the party to transform and adapt to the post-Communist era. A party referendum supported his proposal to change the name to the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

After winning the 1990 Bulgarian Constitutional Assembly election, he did not become prime minister himself, and he eventually supported a multi-party government led by Dimitar Iliev Popov. After losing the 1991 parliamentary elections he stepped down as party leader. In 2001, he retired as MP after having served for 39 years.

Biography Aleksandar Lilov was born on 31 August 1933 in the village of Granichak, northwestern Vidin Province. He graduated Bulgarian Studies (philosophy) at Sofia University in 1962 and graduated doctoral studies in communist Social Science at the Academy of Public Sciences in Moscow. In 1975 he became an associate at the institution of art at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Six years later, he defended a doctoral thesis in 1981. He remained the party's leader until the end of 1991.

He led the Socialists through the first democratic elections in 1990, elected to adopt a new constitution, where his party won a majority of the seats (211 out of 400) and 47.15% of the votes. He did not become Prime Minister himself, instead continuing his support for the socialist government in place led by Andrey Lukanov. This came to an end when mass demonstrations and a general strike led to the formation of a government under the non-partisan judge Dimitar Popov in which the BSP participated alongside the UDF, BANU and independent experts.

His second election campaign in 1991 ended with defeat after his electoral alliance won only 33.1% of the votes and 106 seats (out of 240); finishing behind the Union of Democratic Forces who won 34.4% of the votes and 110 seats. Later that year he stepped down and as chairman of the party and was succeeded by Zhan Videnov. Lilov remained a Member of Parliament until 2001, a seat he held for 39 years (1962–2001).