Documents for "Bulgarian History: Biographies":

• Alexander (Alexander of Battenberg), 1857-93, prince of Bulgaria (1879-86); second son of Prince Alexander of Hesse-Darmstadt and nephew of Alexander II of Russia. He served in the Russian army against the Turks (1877-78) and, backed by the Rus sian czar, was elected hereditary prince of Bulgaria under Turkish suzerainty. In 1885 the...

• Boris I d. 907, khan [ruler] of Bulgaria (852-89). Baptized in 864, he introduced Christianity of the Byzantine rite among the Bulgarians. There followed a rivalry between Rome and Constantinople for the...

• Boris III 1894-1943, czar of Bulgaria (1918-43), son of Czar Ferdinand , on whose abdication he succeeded to the throne. He ruled constitutionally until 1934, then set up a military dictatorship under his premier, Kimon Georgiev, and in 1935 began his personal...

• Dimitrov, Georgi 1882-1949, Bulgarian Communist leader. A revolutionary from boyhood, he was a leader in the 1923 Communist uprising against Alexander Tsankov. When it failed, he fled Bulgaria and continued to work for the Communist cause. In 1933 he was arrested in Berlin for alleged complicity in setting the Reichstag on fire. Dimitrov's cool conduct of his defense and the accusations he directed at his prosecutors won him world renown. He was acquitted and went to the USSR, which conferred citizenship upon him...

• Ferdinand 1861-1948, czar of Bulgaria (1908-18), after being ruling prince (1887-1908). A grandnephew of Ernest I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, he was chosen prince of Bulgaria after the enforced abdication of Prince Alexander. He was, however, opposed by Russia, and it was not until 1896 that he was recognized by the European powers. In 1908, taking advantage of the Young Turk revolution in Constantinople and the...

• Ivan Asen see Ivan II , czar of Bulgaria.

• Ivan II or Ivan Asen , d. 1241, czar of Bulgaria (1218-41). On the death (1207) of his father, Kaloyan, founder of the second Bulgarian empire, the throne was usurped by Ivan's cousin Boril. Ivan fled to the duchy of...

• Sakskoburggotski, Simeon see Simeon II.

• Simeon I c.863-927, ruler (893-927) and later first czar of Bulgaria. He was placed on the throne by his father, Boris I , who had returned from a monastery to depose his first son, Vladimir (reigned 889-93), for attempting to reintroduce paganism. Simeon, ambitious to conquer a vast empire, made duties levied on...

• Simeon II   Simeon Borisov Sakskoburggotski, or Simeon Borisov Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 1937-, czar (1943-46) and premier (2001-5) of Bulgaria. He succeeded his father, Boris III , under a regency. After the occupation (1944) of Bulgaria by Russian forces he remained nominal ruler under a new council of regents. In 1946 a plebiscite abolished the monarchy, and Simeon went...

• Stamboliski, Aleksandr see Stambuliski, Alexander.

• Stambuliski, Alexander Bulgarian Aleksandr Stamboliski , 1879-1923, Bulgarian politician. He was a leader of the Peasants' party and by 1911 had become head of the opposition to Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria. He was jailed (1915-18) for opposing the entry...

• Stambulov, Stefan 1854-95, Bulgarian politician. Protesting Ottoman rule in Bulgaria, he led the unsuccessful revolt of 1876, which was ruthlessly suppressed by the Ottomans in the "Bulgarian atrocities." Stambulov fought (1877-78) on the side of the Russians in the Russo-Turkish War and after the creation of the Bulgarian state became parliamentary leader of the National Liberal party. He opposed...

• Traikov, Georgi 1898-1975, Bulgarian politician and agronomist. Active in agrarian politics from the end of World War I, he rose to become minister of agriculture in the Bulgarian Communist government established...

• Tsankov, Alexander 1879-1959, Bulgarian politician. A professor of political economy at the Univ. of Sofia, he was instrumental in the overthrow (1923) of the dictatorship of Alexander Stambuliski. As premier (1923-26), he mercilessly fought members of the Peasants' and Communist parties, and his administration's relations with Greece and Yugoslavia were strained. After his government fell,...

• Tsankov, Dragan 1828-1911, Bulgarian politician. As journalist and later as professor he played an important part in achieving the autonomy of the Bulgarian Church from the patriarchate of Constantinople and in...

• Zhivkov, Todor 1911-98, Bulgarian political leader. A printer, and a Communist party member from 1932, he rose to prominence as a partisan leader during World War II and headed the coup against the monarchy in...