1911- . Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP)
leader 1954-89, prime minister 1962-71,
president 1971-89. His period in office was
one of caution and conservatism. Zhivkov, a
printing worker, joined the BCP in 1932 and
was active in the resistance 1941-44. After
the war, he was elected to the National
Assembly and soon promoted into the BCP
secretariat and Politburo. As BCP first
secretary, Zhivkov became the dominant
political figure in Bulgaria after the death
of Vulko Chervenkov in 1956. Zhivkov was
elected to the new post of state president in
1971 and lasted until the Eastern bloc
upheavals of 1989.