This is a List of Bulgarian inventors and discoverers, working locally or overseas, and also a list of Bulgarian inventions and creations. The list comprises people from
Bulgaria and also people of predominantly Bulgarian heritage.
Art and architecture
Early Renaissance of the
Tărnovo Artistic School – the world famous frescos in the
Boyana Church from 1239 AD have been described by
Andre Grabar and many scholars, as Early Renaissance or precursors of Renaissance Art well before this period started in Italy. The murals are work of the unknown Boyana Master and his disciples who are believed to have been
representatives of the Tarnovo Artistic School of the
Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396 AD). The frescos have been compared to the work of
Giotto who is generally considered the first in a line of great artists who contributed to the Italian Renaissance. The Boyana Church has been declared by
UNESCO a
World Heritage Site.[1][2]
Stamen Grigorov – discovered Lactobacillus bulgaricus, patented
bacteria used for the production of
yogurt in 1905. The bacterium feeds on
lactose to produce
lactic acid, which is used to preserve milk. He also made a major contribution to the creation of an anti-tuberculosis vaccine.
Samuel Refetoff – discovered the
Refetoff syndrome, resistance to thyrotropin (RTSH) and the inherited defect that affects the metabolism of thyroid hormones through mutations in SECISBP2 gene.[3]
Georgi Lozanov – the teaching method
Suggestopedia, a portmanteau of "
suggestions" and "pedagogy" used to learn foreign languages, was first developed in the 1970s and utilize positive suggestions in teaching language. In 1978, the psychiatrist Lozanov presented the method to a commission in Paris at UNESCO.[5]
Elias Canetti – Nobel laureate in Literature 1981 "for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power"[6]
Technology and aviation
The first technologically processed
gold and oldest gold
treasure and gold
jewelry in the world, dating from 4,600 BC to 4,200 BC, was discovered at
Varna Necropolis.[7]
The first
Ferris wheels, the "Pleasure wheels" from
Plovdiv, whose passengers rode in chairs suspended from large wooden rings turned by strong men, may have originated in 17th-century Bulgaria.[8][9]
Simeon Petrov – Captain Simeon Petrov, Bulgarian Air Force, invented the world's first purpose-built air-to-surface bomb in 1912. The innovations included aerodynamically stabilized x-tail and an impact detonator. The majority of aircraft bombs to date follow Petrov's design. The Bulgarian Air Force deployed the original prototype, thus becoming the first military force in the world to conduct tactical airplane bombing in a full-scale war in 1912.
John Vincent Atanasoff (October 4, 1903 – June 15, 1995) was an American physicist and inventor of Bulgarian origin, best known for being credited with inventing the first electronic
digital computer.[10]
Peter Petroff (21 October 1919 – 27 February 2003[11]) was a Bulgarian American
inventor,
engineer,
NASAscientist, and
adventurer. He was involved in the NASA space program. Among his many accomplishments, Petroff assisted in development of one of the earliest computerized pollution monitoring system and
telemetry devices for early weather and
communications satellites. Petroff helped develop components of one of the world's first
digital watches[11] and an early wireless
heart monitor, and many other important devices and methods.
Ivan (John) Notchev – Bulgarian American aviation engineer and invertor of the jet engines of the
Eagle lunar module. They provide the smooth landing of the module with the cosmonauts, and then their successful return and docking with the spacecraft waiting for them in orbit.
Angel Balevski (4 March 1910 – 15 September 1997) – famous
Bulgarianinventor and
engineer who developed, together with
Ivan Dimov, a counter-pressure casting method which was a novelty in world foundry technology and was protected by over 100 patent documents in Bulgaria and abroad.
Roumen Antonov – invented a revolutionary continuously variable transmission,[12][13] which was never produced.[14]
Ivan Stranski – Prof. Stranski is considered the father of the kinetic theory of crystal growth research.[15][16] The Stranski-Krastanov growth and the Kossel-Stranski model have been named after him.
^"ATANASOFF, JOHN VINCENT". Who's Who in America 1995. Vol. 1 (A-K) (49th ed.). New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who's Who. 1994. p. 129.
ISBN0837901596. Retrieved January 22, 2020 – via Internet Archive.