Following the Constitutional Court’s confirmation of Iliana Yotova as Bulgaria’s new president, the country now has its first female head of state. This historic milestone also introduces the first gentleman of the Republic, Prof. Andrey Yotov, Yotova’s husband.

Further reading: Who Is Iliyana Yotova: Bulgaria’s First Female President

Prof. Yotov is a distinguished orthopedist who graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Sofia in 1983. He specialized in orthopedics and traumatology in 1991 and began his medical career as a district doctor in Obzor, serving from 1983 to 1986. He then joined the National Medical University of Sofia “N. I. Pirogov” as a research associate in the Emergency Traumatology Section. Over the years, he held key positions at the Pirogov Hospital, including head of the Clinical Department in the III Emergency Traumatology Clinic and later head of the II Orthopedic Traumatology Clinic, a role he held until 2006.

Prof. Yotov defended his Doctor of Sciences degree in 2011 and was appointed professor a year later. Between 2006 and 2016, he served as head of the Department of Orthopedics, Traumatology, and Reconstructive Surgery at the Military Medical Academy. Since 2016, he has led the Clinic of Orthopedics and Traumatology at Sofiamed University Hospital.

He has also held leadership positions in professional organizations. From 2013 to 2016, Prof. Yotov was president of the Bulgarian Scientific Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology (BOTA), and he continues to serve as a national consultant in orthopedics and traumatology. He has conducted specialized courses and gained additional training in countries including the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Slovenia, and has lectured both in Bulgaria and internationally.

Prof. Yotov’s medical expertise covers surgical treatment of fractures, endoprosthetics of large and small joints, pelvic and acetabulum surgery, pediatric orthopedics, and onco-orthopedics. He has authored and co-authored over 240 scientific publications, including two dissertations: Closed locking intramedullary osteosynthesis in unstable diaphyseal fractures of the femur and Surgical treatment of problematic fractures of the pelvis and acetabulum. He has also contributed to four monographs and over 120 international and domestic articles.

He is an active member of multiple professional associations, including the Federation of European Orthopedic and Traumatology Societies (EFORT), the European Association of Emergency Surgery and Trauma (EAES), and AO-Trauma Europe. Prof. Yotov also participates on editorial boards of several medical journals, such as Orthopedics and Traumatology, Medical Review, Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation and Health, and Endo Urology.