Prof. Alexander Dzherov, a lawyer and professor of property law at New Bulgarian University, has died aged 97. His close friend Georgi Markov, a former Constitutional Court judge and former MP, announced the death on social media.

Markov wrote: "God rest Alexander Dzherov! A great lawyer, a noble man, a loyal friend!"

Dzherov was born in Sofia in 1929. He studied law at Sofia State University and then became a lawyer. He had a doctorate in private international law.

The Radical Democratic Party had been re-founded and was then a member of the Union of Democratic Forces. Dzherov joined it in 1989, became its deputy chairman in 1993 and left its leadership in 1995.

In 1996 he moved to the Democratic Party, where he was deputy chairman from 2000 to 2006.

On 3 April 2001 the university named him "Honorary Professor of New Bulgarian University" for his contribution to its development and to establishing its Law Department in academia. To mark the title, Dzherov gave a lecture called "Legislative Changes in the Field of Property Law".