Ivan Kostov Nikolov

Ivan Kostov Nikolov (Bulgarian: Иван Костов Николов) Hon HonFMinSoc (December 24, 1913 (O.S.) in Plovdiv, Bulgaria – March 31, 2004 in Sofia, Bulgaria), Aka Ivan Kostov, was a Bulgarian geologist, mineralogist and crystallographer.

Biography
Ivan Kostov Nikolov was born in Plovdiv on 24 December 1913 (O.S.). He was the second son in the numerous family of Kosta Nikolov, a real estate developer, and his wife, Fanka Nikolova, a housewife. He attended primary and secondary school in his native town and was inspired by walking trips in the Rhodope mountains. In 1932 he commenced his studies in natural history at Sofia University, graduating in 1936. In 1936 Ivan Kostov was appointed assistant in the Mineralogical-Petrographical Institute at Sofia University. In 1940 he was awarded a scholarship by the British Council and began his studies at the Royal School of Mines of Imperial College in London. In 1941 he received D.I.C. In 1943 he was elected Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He remained in London during the Second World War and published papers on ore deposits in Bulgaria and other parts of the world in the Mining Magazine. He also worked as a translator for the Bulgarian Service of the BBC.

Upon his return to Bulgaria in 1945 he was elected associate professor and later to the chair of mineralogy, petrology and crystallography at Sofia University.

In 1961 Ivan Kostov was elected corresponding member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and later, in 1966, a full member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

In 1965 he was elected Foreign Member of the Geological Society of London (the title was later changed to Honorary Fellow).

He served as Director of the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia from 1974 until his retirement in 1989.

Honors and recognitions

 * President of the International Mineralogical Association (1982–1986)
 * Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London
 * Honorary Member of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland
 * Honorary Member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
 * Foreign Honorary Member of the Russian Mineralogical Society
 * Foreign Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences
 * Founder and Honorary President of  the Bulgarian Mineralogical Society
 * Doctor Honoris Causa of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
 * Honorary citizen of Plovdiv
 * The Institute of Mineralogy and Crystallography at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences was named after him.
 * The mineral kostovite was named in his honour.
 * A genus of cretaceous ammonites was named in his honour.

Selected publications