Doncho Zankov was born in Sevlievo. In 1921 he graduated from the Art Academy in the class of Prof. Haralampi Tachev. Worked as a teacher in the village of Tsurkva, Pernishko. He also taught many years in Sofia. He was an artist in the First Bulgarian Army during the First World War. At first he worked with watercolors, later with oil paints. He paints mostly high mountain landscapes, often depicted during winter. He held more than 20 solo exhibitions, in which he mainly showed paintings. When he was a student, Zankov was one of the artists who participated in the painting of the frescoes of the "Alexander Nevsky" memorial temple.