Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

The oldest Bulgarian in Brazil has not forgotten his native language and refuses Brazilian citizenship

Tsvetan Apostolov with Nina Grigorova and Daniel Metodiev
Photo: personal library

His name is Tsvetan Apostolov and he was born in 1925 in the village of Lobosh near Pernik in Bulgaria. The 97-year old man lives in a house in Belo Horizonte, the sixth biggest city in Brazil with a population of 2.7 million. “As far as we know Tsvetan is the oldest Bulgarian in the country,” Daniel Metodiev, who also lives in Brazil, told the Bulgarian news agency BTA. Not long ago he visited with Tsvetan Apostolov and talked to him. What he found out was that in all of these years Tsvetan from Lobosh never forgot the Bulgarian language and gladly talks about his brothers, about his country of birth and his years as a student at Sofia University. Tsvetan Apostolov was 26 when he emigrated to Brazil in 1951.

“And in all those years Tsvetan never wanted to take Brazilian citizenship. He is fond of saying he is Bulgarian and will stay Bulgarian, and that as such he should only have one citizenship – Bulgarian,” Daniel Metodiev says.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

New cultural-gastronomic center showcases Bulgarian culinary tradition in Romania

The Bulgarian minority in Romania marked a significant event with the official opening of the Bulgarian Inn in the village of Izvoarele (Hanul Bilgarilor), Teleorman County (Southern Romania)- a locality with Bulgarian roots dating back over 200 years...

published on 11/30/25 6:00 AM

The DiVino.Taste forum showcases new and exciting wines from across Bulgaria

The 14th edition of DiVino.Taste, Bulgaria’s leading forum for wines and winemakers, will take place from 28 to 30 November at the Inter Expo Centre in Sofia. Over 80 producers from all wine regions will participate, offering tastings of around 600 of the..

published on 11/28/25 9:05 AM

After massive protest in front of parliament building the ruling coalition freezes budget for 2026

Minutes before the second and final reading, at the parliamentary budget and finance committee, of the state budget for 2026, the leader of the biggest party represented in parliament GERB Boyko Borissov halted the procedure and sent the draft bill..

updated on 11/27/25 2:52 PM