Petar Nikolov-Zikov
Petar Nikolov-Zikov, also known as Petar Nikolov, is a Bulgarian political scientist, historian, politician, and associate professor at the New Bulgarian University and Deputy Minister of Education and Science in the third cabinet of Boyko Borissov. A self-described conservative, Nikolov is a proponent of Christianity, patriotism, and capitalism.
Biography
Petar Nikolov was born on June 3, 1979, to the artist Nikolay Nikolov-Zikov. His mother was a doctor. He graduated from the National School for Ancient Languages and Cultures in 1998, then with a bachelor's degree in political science at Sofia University in 2002, and a master's degree in political management in 2004. Nikolov has three daughters from his first marriage and a son from his second.Professional career
Since 1999, Nikolov has published articles in newspapers such as Democracy, Pro and Anti, and Seven. In 2000, he joined the analysis department of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF). After the divide of the UDF in 2004, Nikolov became the head of the political section of Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB). From 2008 to 2009, he hosted a political TV show, Thursday Club.Petar Nikolov was awarded a PhD by the New Bulgarian University (NBU) in 2010. Since 2019, he has been an associate professor of political science at NBU and holds a bachelor's and master's courses in the departments of political science, history, and others.
In 2011, he published his first book, The Birth of Bulgarian Conservatism; the year after, he published The House of Sratsimir, which was then continued by his next historical monograph, The True Story of the Principality of Vidin. In 2017, Nikolov's fourth monograph, The Political Conservatism, written in co-authorship with his colleague from NBU, Dr. Irena Todorova, came out of print. From 2015 to 2017, Petar Nikolov was the editor-in-chief of the academic magazine Conservative Quarterly. In 2019, he published his fifth book, The Bulgarian Monarchy.
Political career
Nikolov first ran for parliament in 2009, leading the list of DSBs in Lovech. Although he didn't become an MP, he was awarded a seat on the national committee of the party by the leader, Ivan Kostov. He shortly thereafter became Kostov's main spokesperson. Nikolov was the strategist behind Proshko Proshkov's campaign for mayor of Sofia in 2011. Proshkov won the internal elections in DSB and became the party nominee, but subsequently couldn't defeat the sitting mayor. Due to internal conflicts, Nikolov and Proshkov left the party together with Daniel Mitov and Hristo Angelichin. They all joined Meglena Kuneva's party Bulgaria for Citizens Movement in 2012. With BCM in 2013, Nikolov ran another unsuccessful campaign for MP.In 2014, Petar Nikolov founded the Institute for Right-Wing Policy, which aimed to promote and facilitate the coalition between GERB and the Reformist Bloc. After the coalition came into being, Nikolov was appointed parliamentary secretary of the Council of Ministers by PM Boyko Borissov.
In 2017, Nikolov announced that he was going to run for parliament from the list of United Patriots. Although he outperformed his party’s national average, he still failed to win a seat in Bulgaria’s National Assembly, where parties and candidates must clear an electoral threshold to gain representation. Although his candidacy was initially promoted for the post of culture minister, during the formation of the coalition between GERB and the United Patriots, Nikolov was instead appointed Deputy Minister of Education and Science.
Publications
Petar Nikolov has written multiple scientific articles. His monographs:*