Boris Damyanov (Bulgarian; Борис Дамянов) (11 September 1904 - fl.11 January 2012) was a Bulgarian centenarian who at the time of his death was the oldest known living man in Bulgaria.

Damyanov (Aged 102) in February 2007

Biography

Boris Damyanov was born in the village of Pravishte, (Plovdiv region), Bulgaria on 11 September 1904.

Even at the age of 102, Boris Damyanov has a clear mind and his mind does not let him down. He was left an orphan at the age of 8, after his father was killed by enemy shrapnel somewhere in Eastern Thrace, at the beginning of the Balkan War.

In 1924, Boris entered the military school of His Majesty. He claims that even today, a blindfolded card player can still play the game. For his excellent service, Tsar Boris the Third awarded him with a golden watch.

The centenary commemorates the attack on the "Sveta Nedelya" church in 1925. In 1929, due to the misunderstanding and the raging economic crisis in the whole world, Boris Damyanov was forced to part with the award from the monarch and sold the gold watch for 5 thousand levs to a Jew from Sofia.

During the Tsar's time, Boris was a tavern keeper, a municipal councilor and a village serf. His attempt to save his fellow villagers from heavy military orders in 1942 earned him the hatred of the local authorities. In the autumn of 1943 he was mobilized and sent to the Bulgarian occupation corps in Eastern Serbia. He was assigned to the city of Negotin as the commander of the card department. Boris clearly remembers how the Bulgarian officers mercilessly dealt with the marauders among the soldiers, who dared to steal from the local population.

After 9 September 1944, the tavern of Boris Damyanov in his native village of Malko Borisovo, now Pravische, was destroyed and a reading room was built in its place. In the troubled times of the cherveniya terror, he was saved by the accidental acquisition of existence, which left the peasant post shortly before the revolution.

The centenarian claims that, despite being an innkeeper, he never licked brandy, nor even lit a cigar. He usually drinks a glass of wine or beer once a week. ---(says a February 2007 news report).

He was last confirmed alive in the village of Pravishte, (Plovdiv region), Bulgaria on 11 January 2011 at the age of 107. Following the his death, then 106-year-old Georgi Nentsev Stajkov, became the oldest known living man in Bulgaria.

SOURCES:
• Столетникът Борис Дамянов – съвременник на 3 национални катастрофи и 4 войни за национално обединение 05.02.2007.

• 108-годишният Борис Дамянов не знае що е болест! 06.01.2012.

Note: I sent a request to the registry office in the municipality where he lived and I hope for an adequate response, and that after that I will be able to set the exact date of death that is confirmed by the registry office... (for now I'm sticking with the option "Last comfrimed alive" in this case it's 11.01 2012 although there was a report about it published on 10.04.2012. which is now a dead link, so I'm sticking with the last report that is available)... I believe he died the same year, I could be wrong but never mind, when I get the official announcement from the registry office, I'll post it here...