100 Leva Exarch Anthim I

Anthim I served as the first Exarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church following its restoration in 1872 — the culmination of a decades-long struggle to break free from the Greek Patriarchate of Constantinople. His tenure was short. After Bulgaria's liberation from Ottoman rule in 1878, he became the country's first prime minister, then was forcibly expelled to Anatolia by the Ottomans in 1879, where he died under house arrest in 1888.

The 2016 issue is part of the Bulgarian National Bank's ongoing commemorative series honoring figures central to the Bulgarian National Revival.