Sofia's newest boulevard opened on June 3 and connects Zona B-5 and Ruski Pametnik (Russian Monument). It was named after Stefan Stambolov - the Bulgarian politician who is probably the most enthusiastically praised and the most violently denounced politician in the country's modern history. No wonder that he was often referred to by Bulgarian and international politicians as the Bulgarian Bismarck.

Stambolov was born in January 1854, in Turnovo, to the family of an innkeeper. He later joined the Bulgarian revolutionary movement against Turkish rule and led anti-Turkish uprisings in 1875 and 1876. He was the leader of the suppressed Stara Zagora uprising in 1875 and then headed the 1876 April uprising in the Turnovo region. He also fought with Bulgarian troops in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878.

After Bulgaria gained independence, Stambolov threw his energy and ambition into the struggle against the Treaty of Berlin, which took away substantial territories of the newly liberated state. He also initiated the formation of a liberal party and entered Parliament. He was elected speaker of the national assembly in 1884. Even though he was head of Parliament, Stambolov joined the Bulgarian soldiers in the war with Serbia in 1885.

Stambolov actively supported the unification of Knyazhestvo Bulgaria (the Principality of Bulgaria) and Eastern Rumelia. He urged Bulgaria's prince Alexander I to support the unification which took place in 1885, despite the opposition of Russia.

Stambolov was not the keenest admirer of Prince Alexander because he opposed the monarch's absolute power and demanded the restoration of the Turnovo Constitution.

However, after the forced abdication and abduction of Alexander in August 1886, Stambolov established a counterrevolutionary regime loyal to the prince at Turnovo, which undermined the pro-Russian provisional government in Sofia. Following Alexander's formal abdication in September 1886, Stambolov headed the regency council. He successfully impeded Russian attempts to intervene in Bulgarian political life and secured the election of Prince Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg to the Bulgarian throne on July 7, 1887.

Under Bulgaria's new prince, Stambolov formed a government that remained in power from August 1887 to May 1894. As prime minister, he showed the best of his political talent. His rule is considered the strongest push for Bulgaria's overall development towards European standards. Stambolov worked for the economic, political, administrative and cultural modernization of the country. He sought to improve health care, local self-government, culture and urban development. Under him, a complex transport network was built and laws promoting agriculture and providing government protection for locally produced goods were created. His government signed favourable trade contracts with many large European states.

At the same time, Stambolov was wildly criticized for his authoritarian rule, violent treatment of political opponents and persecution of the opposition. A number of anti-royal conspiracies and uprisings in Bulgaria made him employ terrorist means in order to secure the rule of the monarch and the continuation of his government.

The politician was considered a Russophobe because of his decision that Bulgaria break off relations with Russia. At the same time, Bulgaria's prime minister did not rely exclusively on the West. In his strive to maintain Bulgaria's internal political independence, Stambolov sought the diplomatic support of Britain and Austro-Hungary, but his commitment to London and Vienna in no way impaired Bulgaria's national interests. He pursued a peaceful establishment of the Bulgarian church and education in Macedonia. He raised the Bulgarian issue at any possible occasion and eventually secured the international recognition of Ferdinand.

However, Stambolov's authoritarian nature clashed with the ambitious character of Ferdinand who did not like the domination of his prime minister. In May 1894, the monarch made Stambolov resign his high post.

A year after his resignation, after being chased for months by his enemies, Stefan Stambolov was slain in a brutal street assault in Sofia.