Plamen Goranov
Bulgarian activist
Died when: 36 years 134 days (436 months)Star Sign: Libra
Plamen Goranov (Bulgarian: Пламен Горанов) (20 October 1976 – 3 March 2013) was a Bulgarian photographer and mountain climber, and a Varna-based local protest leader of the 2013 Bulgarian nationwide protests.
He became a symbol of the Bulgarian social protest movements and a catalyst for nationwide protests and government resignations when on 20 February 2013 he set himself on fire in front of the Varna municipal building.
He died from his injuries in a local hospital on 3 March, Bulgarian Liberation Day, a Bulgarian national holiday celebrating liberation from five centuries of Ottoman rule.
Goranov protested against the organized crime group TIM and the TIM-controlled Varna mayor Kiril Yordanov.After setting himself on fire, Goranov became the subject of discussions and received active support on social networks.
Approximately 300 people donated blood for transfusion while he was in hospital.On the day of his death, people in Sofia and Varna gathered to pay their respects to Goranov.
Goranov was the first of six Bulgarians who set themselves on fire during the Bulgarian nationwide protest. (in conflict with self-immolations article here)