On January 19, 2014 the 130th anniversary since the birth of Georgi Kyoseivanov is marked. He was a diplomat, politician and talented statesman. He was born in the town of Peshtera in Southern Bulgaria. His father was a member of the local revolutionary committee during the April Uprising. His mother Rayna Petrova Goranova is the daughter of the leader of the Batak Uprising - Peter Goranov. Kyoseivanov became a law graduate in France in 1906. His diplomatic career started in the Bulgarian embassy in Paris. After that he was a diplomat in Rome, Istanbul, Switzerland and Berlin. In 1926 he became envoy in Athens and Bucharest and in 1933 in Belgrade. There Kyoseivanov started his big political career during the time of Tsar Boris III. He became Prime Minister of Bulgaria on November 23, 1935 and remained on this position until February 1940 in a difficult period for the world, after a severe economic crisis and escalating World War II.

Here is more from Professor Lyudmil Spasov.

“In the period 1936-39 the powerful people’s movements affected the political situation in Europe. In Spain a bloody civil war erupted. In Bulgaria the People’s Front was also active under the direction of the Comintern. At that time Kyoseivanov succeeded as Prime Minister to create a unique political system. There was a Parliament without parties. A very interesting fact is a meeting at which Boris gave important tasks to Minister Kyoseivanov. They were: ‘do not restore the parties; improve the economic status of the people, restore local councils and hold municipal elections, create a parliament.’ I have reasons to believe that this is a program of the Prime Minister himself signed by the king,” Prof. Spasov says. “At the beginning of 1937 he issued ​​an ordinance for holding municipal elections. For the first time Bulgarian women were given the right to vote. Inspired by this success Kyoseivanov started the preparation of parliamentary elections in the spring of 1938."

Something interesting happened in Bulgaria. The 24th National Assembly consisted of 160 elected representatives. 93 out of them supported the government and 67 were in opposition. While violent clashes erupted in other countries there was no violence in Bulgaria, thanks to the skilful ruling of Kyoseivanov.

Another great merit of Kyoseivanov was that he managed to bring the economy back to its feet after the great crisis of 1929-1934. Under his leadership the Industry Law was adopted. Bulgarian industry was put under government control and marked great successes. The state-owned Central Bank was the primary master of the banking system. Transport was also state-owned.

"The results were more than brilliant. In 1939 Bulgaria had a record 6.9% growth of industrial production, which was among the highest in Europe,” says Prof. Spasov.

“The special talent of Kyoseivanov was actually foreign policy. Under his leadership, Bulgaria was widely recognized as the new star in the policy on the Balkans, said in his reports the U.S. envoy, adding that in Sofia a great diplomat had emerged - Kyoseivanov. In 1936 at an international conference at the direction of Kyoseivanov, Bulgaria supported the Turkish request for a peaceful revision of the Treaty of Neuilly. Turkey regained the power over the straits and Istanbul. This allowed the Bulgarian revisionist policy to achieve success after success. In 1937 the Bulgarian- Yugoslav pact for indestructible peace and eternal friendship was signed. Two friendships emerged in the Balkans: the Yugoslav- Bulgarian and the Greek-Turkish one. Only one country remained isolated and this was Romania. That was when Romanians changed their tone towards Bulgaria. They themselves offered to sign an agreement for Bulgarian churches and schools in Romania but Kyoseivanov asserted that the countries were in another phase of negotiations now - South Dobruja should be returned. He managed to internationalize the Dobrudja question and to determine the priorities of Bulgarian foreign policy: the return of the region, gaining outlet to the Aegean Sea, the return of part of the western suburbs given to Yugoslavia by the Treaty of Neuilly. In the complex pre-war situation the minister managed to organize three missions abroad in order to ensure the best for Bulgaria. The first was in Germany to obtain information from the source for the further developments in the international situation. There were similar missions in England, France and Moscow. At the end of his rule Kyoseivanov signed an agreement on trade with the USSR, which was of big importance for the Bulgarian economy. "

After the outbreak of World War II, Tsar Boris became seriously worried about the growing independence of Kyoseivanov. The king could not predict anymore the direction of the Bulgarian foreign policy. This created a conflict between the Royal Palace and the Prime Minister. At the end of 1939 Kyoseivanov resigned and was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary in Switzerland. After September 9, 1944 Kyoseivanov was fired by the new communist government. He remained in exile in Switzerland and died there in 1960.

English version: Alexander Markov