Kimon Georgiev Stoyanov ( bg, Кимон Георгиев Стоянов; August 11, 1882 – September 28, 1969) was a Bulgarian general who was the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1934 to 1935 and again from 1944 to 1946.

Life and career

Born in Pazardzhik, Georgiev graduated from the Sofia military academy in 1902. He participated in the Balkan Wars as a company commander and in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

as a commander of a battalion. In 1916 he lost an eye due to injuries received in action. He left the army in 1920 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Georgiev was one of the founders of the Military Union in 1919 and the People's Alliance in 1922. He participated in the organization of the 1923 coup d'état and after that became one of the leaders of the Democratic Alliance. He was the minister for railways, postal service and telegraphs in the first cabinet of Andrey Lyapchev. In the 1930s he became one of the leaders of the right-wing military '' Zveno'' ('Link') movement. Together with fellow officers he committed a coup d'état in May 1934 and became prime minister. He was also justice minister and for a short time minister of war and foreign affairs. He abolished all political parties and trade unions. Influenced by the Italian dictator

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

, he introduced a corporative economic system. In 1935 Tsar Boris III forced him to resign. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, when Bulgaria was fighting on the side of the Axis, he grew close to the left-wing forces in Bulgaria and in 1943 he joined the anti-Axis Fatherland Front (FF) as one of its leaders. In September 1944 the FF committed a coup d'état and Georgiev again became prime minister. In 1946 he was succeeded by the communist leader Georgi Dimitrov and became vice-premier and Foreign Minister. Though Zveno was disbanded in 1949, Georgiev continued holding ministerial posts in each cabinet until 1962. From 1962 until his death in 1969 he was a member of the Presidium of the National Assembly. Georgiev was twice awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labour. He is known as ''stariya prevratadzhiya'' (стария превратаджия, in English, ''the old coup-maker'') in Bulgaria for having organised three coups: 1923, 1934 and 1944.

References

* Tasho Tashev, ''The Ministers of Bulgaria 1879–1999'', Sofia, AI "Prof. Marin Drinov"/Publishing house of the Ministry of Defense, 1999, / (in Bulgarian).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Georgiev, Kimon 1882 births 1969 deaths People from Pazardzhik Prime Ministers of Bulgaria Deputy prime ministers of Bulgaria Members of the National Assembly (Bulgaria) World War II political leaders Bulgarian military personnel of World War I Bulgarian military personnel of the Balkan Wars Bulgarian generals Politicians with disabilities Defence ministers of Bulgaria