Dimitar (Dimo) Totev Kazasov () (17 September 1886 – 28 July 1980) was a Bulgarian politician and journalist, initially from the

Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party The Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party (; BRSDP) was a Bulgarian leftist group founded in 1894. History In July 1891, on the initiative of Dimitar Blagoev, the social democratic circles of Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Kazanla ...

(BRSDP), and later from several other organizations. He joined the governments formed after the

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

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 ...

coups. He was MP in the

XVIII 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 (number), 17 and preceding 19 (number), 19. It is an even composite number. Mathematics 18 is a semiperfect number and an abundant number. It is a largely composite number, as it has 6 divisors a ...

(1919–1920), XXI (1923–1927), XXVI (1945–1946)

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

and in the VI Grand National Assembly (1946–1949).

Early life

Dimo Kazasov was born in 1886 in

Tryavna Tryavna ( ) is a town in central Bulgaria, situated in the northern slopes of the Balkan range, on the Tryavna river valley, near Gabrovo. It is famous for its textile industry and typical National Revival architecture, featuring 140 cultural m ...

. He went to highscool in Ruse and graduated in 1904. Between 1906 and 1910 he was a teacher in

Tutrakan Tutrakan ( , , ) is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of the homonymous municipality, part of Silistra Province. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube opposite the Romanian town of Oltenița (to which it was l ...

, Ruse,

Burgas Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...

, Kula and Voneshta voda. He graduated in law from

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 ...

in 1918''.'' He was secretary of the Union of Bulgarian Teachers from 1910 to 1917. Early on he also appeared as a journalist. From 1924 to 1927 he was chairman of the Union of Bulgarian Journalists.

Political activity

Kazasov was a member of BRSDP from 1902 and from 1919 to 1926 he was a member of its central committee. Between 1920 and 1923 he was chief editor of its ''Narod (People)'' newspaper. In 1919–1920, he was an MP in the XVIII National Assembly. He was chairman of the Strike Committee during the big Transport Strike of 1919–1920 (in Bulgarian). Kazasov took active part in the 1923 coup d'état and from 1923 to 1924 he was minister of the railways, post offices and telegraphs. In 1926, he was expelled from BRSDP and created his own party – the Social Democratic Federation which he left in 1927. In the same year Kazasov and a group of intellectuals created the

Zveno Zveno (), ''Politicheski krag "Zveno"'', officially Political Circle "Zveno" was a Bulgarian political organization, founded in 1930 by Bulgarian politicians, intellectuals and Bulgarian Army officers. It was associated with a newspaper of that ...

Political Organisation. He published Zveno's ''Zveno'' magazine and ''Izgrev (Sunrise)'' newspaper. In early 1934 he separated from

Kimon Georgiev Kimon Georgiev Stoyanov (; August 11, 1882 – September 28, 1969) was a Bulgarian general who was the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1934 to 1935 and again from 1944 to 1946. He was considered a "master in the art of coup d'etats. ...

and his group left Zveno and joined

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 ...

's National Social Movement. Kazasov took part in the 19 May coup d'état in the same year, although he publicly stated that had nothing to do with it. Following the coup he was appointed ambassador in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

and remained in office until 1936. From 1936 to 1944 he was chairman of the Committee for Protection and Amnesty of Political Fighters. At the beginning of World War II, he took active part in protection of Bulgarian Jews from deportation. Kazasov became a member of the National Committee of the Fatherland Front. Kazasov took part in the 9 September coup d'état and was minister of propaganda in the second government of

(1944–1946). After that he was minister of arts and information in the first government of

Georgi Dimitrov Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; ) also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian communist politician who served as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1933 t ...

(1946–1947). After three-year absence from the political scene, in 1950 Kazasov was appointed chief director of the publishing houses, polygraphy and the trade with printed works. This was a key office, formed during

Valko Chervenkov Valko Velyov Chervenkov ...

's rule, whose purpose was to censor the press and book publishing in communist Bulgaria during the

Stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

period. In 1953 Kazasov withdrew from political life and published his memoirs. Kazasov died on 28 July 1980 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 ...

References

{{Authority control 1886 births 1980 deaths People from Tryavna 20th-century Bulgarian politicians Sofia University alumni