Georgi (Grisha) Stanchev Filipov () (July 13, 1919 – November 2, 1994) was a leading member of the

Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party ( Bulgarian: Българска комунистическа партия (БΚП), Romanised: ''Bŭlgarska komunisticheska partiya''; BKP) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria f ...

. He served as

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

from 1981 to 1986.

Biography

He lived and studied in

Lovech Lovech (, ) is a city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast from the capital city of Sofia. Near Lovech are the towns of ...

. From 1938 to 1940 he was a student at

Sofia University Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria. Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...

. He became a member of the

in 1940 and took an active part in the anti-fascist struggle of the Bulgarian students, for which he was arrested in 1942 and sentenced first to 12 and then to 15 years in prison. He became a member of the Central Committee of the BCP in 1966, and in 1974, a member of the Politburo. From 1971 to 1981 and from 1986 to 1989 he was a member of the State Council of Bulgaria. Filipov became recognised as a leading economic expert in the Bulgarian government and became associated with the tendency that was sympathetic towards economic liberalisation. Filipov was very close to

Todor Zhivkov Todor Hristov Zhivkov ( ; 7 September 1911 – 5 August 1998) was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian communist statesman who served as the ''de facto'' leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) from 1954 until 1989 as General Secretary of the Cen ...

and was regularly touted as a potential successor. A leading member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

, he formed the 77th Bulgarian government on 16 June 1981 following elections to the National Assembly. He held the post until 21 March 1986 when Zhivkov replaced him with Georgi Atanasov. The move, which took place against the backdrop of reforms being brought in by

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

, was characterised as a cosmetic gesture aimed to create the illusion of change rather than a Bulgarian version of

glasnost ''Glasnost'' ( ; , ) is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissi ...

and

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

. After the fall of the socialist system in 1989 he was removed from all political posts and on 24 April 1990 he was expelled from the BCP. On 14 July 1992, Filipov was arrested on charges of misappropriation of state funds, but was released a short time later on health grounds. He died in 1994 before he could be brought to trial.A Bulgarian prime minister vanishes on Vitosha
''24 Chasa'', 10.07.2009, accessed on 11.08.2013

References

Bibliography

* Tashev, T. ''Министрите на България 1879 - 1999'' (''Ministers in Bulgaria 1879 - 1999''). Marin Drinov Academic Publishing House, 1999. * Tsurakov, A. ''Енциклопедия Правителствата на България 1879 - 2005'' (''Encyclopedia of Bulgarian Ministers, 1879 - 2005''). Petr Beron, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Filipov, Grisha 1919 births 1994 deaths People from Kadiivka Ukrainian people of Bulgarian descent Soviet emigrants to Bulgaria Bulgarian Communist Party politicians Prime ministers of Bulgaria Bulgarian resistance members Heads of government who were later imprisoned