Damyan Velchev or Velcev () (4 March 1883,

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( ) is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the Local government, administrative centre of Gabrovo Province.It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international ca ...

– 25 January 1954,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a

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 politician and general. From 1925 to 1935 he was the leader of the Military League (Bulgaria) (1919–1947), an organization of Bulgarian officers which carried the 1923,

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

coup d'etats. In 1930 he became a member of the '' Zveno'' group. In 1934 he led the pro-''Zveno'' coup, but did not become a minister and stayed in the background. After King

Boris III Boris III (; 28 August 1943), originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver (Boris Clement Robert Mary Pius Louis Stanislaus Xavier), was the Tsar of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1918 until his death in 1943. The eldest son ...

's counter-coup of 1935 Velchev fled abroad, but later slipped back into the country wanting to make another coup d'état and was arrested. He was sentenced to death in 1936, but Boris spared his life. In 1943 he joined the Fatherland Front, an anti-

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

resistance movement. In 1944 the Fatherland Front seized power and Velchev became Minister of Defence with the rank of

colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

. He resigned in 1946 because of communist purges within the army. Later he became ambassador to Switzerland as an act by the communists to keep him away from Bulgarian matters, but in 1947 he resigned and asked for political asylum. He remained in Switzerland until his death in France in 1954.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velchev, Damyan 1883 births 1954 deaths People from Gabrovo Bulgarian politicians Bulgarian generals Bulgarian military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Order of Bravery Eastern Orthodox Christians from Bulgaria Ambassadors of Bulgaria to Switzerland Bulgarian expatriates in Switzerland