He was born in Pavlikeni, Bulgaria on 17/8/1936. Initially, he studied painting at the Academy of Arts in Sofia. He then studied voice at the School of the Sofia National Opera under Christo Brabarov. His repertoire consisted mainly of Italian and Russian works. In 1960 he debuted as Timur in the opera Turandot at the Sofia National Opera and in 1965 he toured with its troupe in West Germany, Holland and France. That same year he made his Metropolitan Opera House New York debut as Ramfis in Aida, which was followed by the roles of Philip II [Don Carlo], the title role in Boris Godunov –a role in which he distinguished himself, Raimondo [Lucia di Lammermoor], Il Commendatore [Don Giovanni] and Colline [La Bohème]. He sang in major opera houses internationally. His special roles included Mephistopheles [Faust], Creon [Medea], Padre Guardiano [The power of fate/La forza del destino], Banco [Macbeth], Zaccaria [Nabucco], Henry VIII [Anna Bolena], Moses [Moses in Egypt/Mosè in Egitto], Marcel [Les Huguenots], Lindorf, Coppélius, Miracle, Dapertutto [The tales of Hoffmann/Les contes d ‘Hoffmann], Prince Gremin [Eugene Onegin], Dosifey [The Khovansky Affair/Khovanshchina] and Prince Galitsky [Prince Igor]. He worked with the GNO three times, appearing in the roles of Boris Godunov (Athens Festival 1970, 1977) and Zaccaria [Nabucco] (Athens Festival 1992). His extensive discography includes works such as La Gioconda (1967, opposite Renata Tebaldi, Carlo Bergonzi, Robert Merrill and Marilyn Horne), Carmen, Aida, Aleko and The Khovansky Affair. He died in Bulgaria on 16/5/2014.