Andrey Tasev Lyapchev (Tarpov) (; 30 November 1866 – 6 November 1933) was a Bulgarian Prime Minister in three consecutive governments.

Early years

Lyapchev was born in the

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

city of Resen, which was at the time a part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, and played a leading role in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n politics. Lyapchev's family is thought to have originated from a certain Dore, a Megleno-Romanian potter who fled the Islamization of his native

Notia Nótia (, formerly Νώτια; or ; ) is a village in the Exaplatanos municipal unit of the Pella regional unit, Macedonia, Greece. Notia was once the largest Megleno-Romanian village, whose population underwent mass conversion to Islam in t ...

and settled in Resen in the 18th century. Andrey Lyapchev started his education in Resen but after the

April Uprising The April Uprising () was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The rebellion was suppressed by irregular Ottoman bashi-bazouk units that engaged in indiscriminate slaughter of both rebels ...

of 1876 the local school was shut down by Ottoman authorities, following the fate of many other Bulgarian schools in Macedonia. He spent the next three years helping his brother Georgi run his shop in

Bitola Bitola (; ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing ...

. Georgi was left to take care of the family after the death of their father. In 1879 Lyapchev signed in the

gymnasium and two years later he moved to the newly established

Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki The Sts. Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki (, ''Solunska balgarska mazhka gimnazia „Sv. sv. Kiril i Metodiy“'') was the first Bulgarian language, Bulgarian high school in Macedonia (region), Macedonia. One of th ...

. One of his teacher's there was his fellow-townsman

Trayko Kitanchev Trayko Tsvetkov Kitanchev (; 1 September 1858 – 13 August 1895) was a Bulgarian teacher, translator, social figure, poet and revolutionary. In 1895, he was the first chairman of the Supreme Macedonian–Adrianopolitan Committee, a Sofia-ba ...

, who had a significant influence on the young student. After Kitanchev's dismissal in 1884 Lyapchev left the school and moved to

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

together with his teacher. At the time Plovdiv was the main city of the Autonomous Province of

Eastern Rumelia Eastern Rumelia (; ; ) was an autonomous province (''oblast'' in Bulgarian, ''vilayet'' in Turkish) of the Ottoman Empire with a total area of , which was created in 1878 by virtue of the Treaty of Berlin (1878), Treaty of Berlin and ''de facto'' ...

. Together with other

students of the Plovdiv gymnasium, like

Pere Toshev Petar (Pere) Naumov Toshev (, ; 1865–1912) was a Bulgarian teacher and an activist of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization. In the historiography in North Macedonia he is considered an ethnic Macedonian revolutionar ...

and

Nikola Genadiev Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος) and it means "the winner of the people". It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulg ...

, Lyapchev got closer with

Zahari Stoyanov Zahariy Stoyanov (; archaic: ) (1850 – 2 September 1889), born Dzhendo Stoyanov Dzhedev (), was a Bulgarian revolutionary, writer, and historian. A participant in the April Uprising of 1876, he became its first historiographer with his bo ...

and the

Bulgarian Secret Central Revolutionary Committee Bulgarian Secret Central Revolutionary Committee (BSCRC) was a Bulgarian revolutionary organization founded in Plovdiv, then in Eastern Rumelia on February 10, 1885. The original purpose of the committee was to gain autonomy for the region of Mac ...

which was preparing the future unification between Eastern Rumelia and the

Principality of Bulgaria The Principality of Bulgaria () was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the Russo-Turkish War ended with a Russian victory, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed ...

. He was sent to the

Panagyurishte Panagyurishte (, also transliterated ''Panagjurište'', ) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, situated in a small valley in the Sredna Gora mountains. It is 91 km east of Sofia, 43 km north of Pazardzhik. The town is ...

committee on 2 September 1885, but authorities arrested him on the way. He was let free only after the

Unification Unification or unification theory may refer to: Computer science * Unification (computer science), the act of identifying two terms with a suitable substitution * Unification (graph theory), the computation of the most general graph that subs ...

had been proclaimed on 6 September. With the beginning of the

Serbo-Bulgarian War The Serbo-Bulgarian War or the Serbian–Bulgarian War (, ''Srăbsko-bălgarska voyna'', , ''Srpsko-bugarski rat''), a war between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Principality of Bulgaria, erupted on and lasted until . Despite Bulgaria's statu ...

on 2 September 1885, the whole group signed in the First Volunteers Corps. However, by order of Knyaz Aleksander I students were left at the rear of the advancing army. Nevertheless, Lyapchev and the rest managed to reach the captured town of

Pirot Pirot ( sr-Cyrl, Пирот) is a city and the administrative center of the Pirot District in southeastern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the urban area of the city has a population of 34,942, while the population of the city administrative are ...

. There they were eventually de-mobilised in December, returning to Plovdiv afterwards. In the summer of 1886

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

organised a coup d’état which resulted in the disposal of Knyaz Aleksandar I and in a drastic interference of Russian generals in the internal affairs of Bulgaria. These events made Lyapchev even more sympathetic to the cause of the extreme nationalists led by Zahari Stoyanov,

Dimitar Petkov Dimitar Nikolov Petkov () (2 November 1858, Tulcea – 11 March 1907, Sofia) was a leading member of the Bulgarian People's Liberal Party and the country's Prime Minister from 5 November 1906 until he was assassinated in Sofia the following ye ...

and

Dimitar Rizov Dimitar Hristov Rizov or Rizoff (, ; 1862 – 1918) was a Bulgarian revolutionary, publicist, politician, journalist and diplomat. Life Rizov was born in 1860 in Manastır, Ottoman Empire (today Bitola, North Macedonia). At first he studie ...

. The latter was a prominent figure among Macedonian emigrants at the time. Lyapchev even went on to lead a group of nationalists that beat up conservative politician

Todor Burmov Todor Stoyanov Burmov (; 14 January 1834 – 7 November 1906) was a leading Bulgarian Conservative Party politician and the first Prime Minister of an independent Bulgaria. Burmov was a graduate of the Kiev Theological Academy and subsequently ...

, a deed that Lyapchev himself later dismissed. In the following months relations between Lyapchev, on one side, and the Stambolovist government and Zahari Stoyanov on the other, grew colder, and Lyapchev got closer with Dimitar Rizov. Tensions between authorities and the Macedonian emigration intensified even further after Kosta Panitsa was jailed and sentenced to death over allegations of organising a coup d’état. In the summer of 1888 Rizov published articles critical to the Prime Minister

Stefan Stambolov Stefan Nikolov Stambolov (; 31 January 1854 Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe, OS – 19 July 1895 Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe, OS) was a Bulgarian politician, journalist, revoluti ...

and was also sentenced to two years in jail. A warrant was issued with Lyapchev's name on it, but he managed to leave the country.

Political career

He entered the

Bulgarian parliament The National Assembly () is the unicameral parliament and legislative body of the Republic of Bulgaria. The first National Assembly was established in 1879 with the Tarnovo Constitution. During the communist period between 1946 and 1989, the ...

in 1908 and before long rose to ministerial rank. In this role he signed the 1908 treaty that established Bulgarian independence as well as the 1918 Armistice of Salonica. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he became the first civilian to hold the post of Minister of War. He fell out of favour under

Aleksandar Stamboliyski Aleksandar Stoimenov Stamboliyski (; 1 March 1879 – 14 June 1923) was a Bulgarian politician who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Prime Minister of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria from 1919 until 1923. Stamboliyski was a memb ...

and was imprisoned between 1922 and the military coup of 1923. Lyapchev became

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 ...

on 4 January 1926 at the head of a coalition between the Democratic Alliance and the National Liberal Party. Lyapchev generally pursued a more moderate line than his predecessor

Aleksandar Tsankov Aleksandar Tsolov Tsankov (; 29 June 1879 – 27 July 1959) was a leading Bulgarian politician during the Interwar period, period between the two World Wars. Biography A professor of political economy at Sofia University from 1910 onwards,Phili ...

, declaring an amnesty for Communist prisoners (although the Communist Party officially remained banned). He also secured two loans from the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

to help bolster the economy, although economic problems were exacerbated by an

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

.S.G. Evans, ''A Short History of Bulgaria'', London, Lawrence and Wishart, 1960, p. 170 He was, however, criticized for his toleration of the activities of the

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1893 in Salonica, it initia ...

which strained relations with

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Despite his more moderate stance Bulgaria struggled to cope with the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and so he lost the 1931 election. He died in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

two years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyapchev, Andrey 1866 births 1933 deaths People from Resen, North Macedonia Bulgarian people of Megleno-Romanian descent Democratic Party (Bulgaria) politicians Prime ministers of Bulgaria Finance ministers of Bulgaria Members of the National Assembly (Bulgaria) Members of the Macedonian Scientific Institute Macedonian Bulgarians Bulgarian people of the Balkan Wars Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki alumni Burials at Central Sofia Cemetery Deaths from cancer in Bulgaria 20th-century Bulgarian politicians Defence ministers of Bulgaria People from the Ottoman Empire Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Bulgaria