Petko Karavelov

Petko Karavelov

Petko Stojtschew Karawelow ( Bulgarian Петко Стойчев Каравелов ; born March 24, 1843 in Kopriwschtiza ( Sofia Oblast ), † January 24, 1903 in Sofia ) was a Bulgarian politician and four-time prime minister . He was the brother of the poet Lyuben Karavelov .

Life

Study and family

Karawelow followed his older brother, the poet and revolutionary Lyuben Karawelow , to Russia in 1859 , where he completed his school education. He later studied law and history at Lomonossow University in Moscow , graduating in 1869. His daughter Lora Karawelowa was the wife of the poet and revolutionary fighter Pejo Jaworow .

During the Russo-Ottoman War from 1877 to 1878 he was a soldier in the Russian Army . In recognition of this, he was appointed deputy governor of the city of Swishtov by the Russian occupation forces in 1878 .

Bulgaria's independence, President of Parliament and Prime Minister

He then played a key role in the preparation of Bulgaria's (limited) independence from the Ottoman Empire on July 8, 1879, in particular one of the authors of the first constitution adopted on April 10, 1879, the so-called Constitution of Tarnowo .

In the same year he was elected for the first time as a member of the National Assembly, in which he initially represented the interests of the Liberal Party ( Либералната партия ) until 1881 . As such, he was also President of the National Assembly from October 21, 1879 to March 26, 1880.

On April 7, 1880, Prime Minister Dragan Zankow appointed him Minister of Finance . On December 10, 1880, he was appointed Prime Minister himself for the first time as successor to Zankow by Prince Alexander I von Battenberg . During his tenure, which lasted until May 9, 1881, he remained minister of finance on the one hand and also took over the office of minister of justice on the other .

In the following period, during the regime of powers of attorney , he fell into the disapproval of Alexander I and fled to Eastern Rumelia . There he was supported by Prince Aleksandar Bogoridi , also an avowed liberal. From 1883 to 1884 he was first mayor of Plovdiv before he was reappointed Prime Minister on July 11, 1884 as successor to Zankow. During his reign, which lasted until August 21, 1886, he was again Minister of Finance. He was also Minister of Public Education until January 27, 1885 and then Minister of the Interior from February 2, 1885 to August 21, 1886 . At the same time he was again a member of the National Assembly from 1884 to 1886 and again its President from June 27 to 29, 1884. During his tenure, among other things, the railways were nationalized .

After a three-day interim government by Archbishop Kliment Turnowski during the coup on August 9th ^July. / August 21, 1886 ^greg. he was from August 12th ^jul. / August 24, 1886 ^greg. until August 16, ^jul. / August 28, 1886 ^greg. Prime Minister for the third time. He was then a member of the Regency Council for a few weeks until October 27, 1886 after the abdication of Prince Alexander I.

His reigns were each characterized by close ties to the Russian Empire. After resigning as Prime Minister, he was temporarily envoy to Romania and from 1890 to 1891 in Austria-Hungary .

Imprisonment, party founder and fourth term as prime minister

Karavelov's tomb in Sofia

In 1891 he was sentenced to an initial prison term for allegedly inciting the murder of Minister Christo Beltschew , which later went into house arrest and which he served until an amnesty during the tenure of Prime Minister Konstantin Stoilow in 1894. The probable reason for the imprisonment was the break with his previous political ally and chairman of the National Liberal Party (Народнолибералната партия), Stefan Stambolow .

After his release from prison he was re-elected as a member of the National Assembly in 1894, to which he belonged until 1901. In 1895 he was the founder of the Democratic Party (bulg. Демократическата партия ), whose chairman he remained until his death.

On March 5, 1901, he succeeded Ratscho Petrov for the fourth and last time as Prime Minister. As such, he was again Minister of Finance until the end of his term of office on January 3, 1902 and again Minister of Public Education from May 8, 1901. He was succeeded as Prime Minister on January 4, 1902 by his Foreign and Religious Minister Stojan Petrow Danew .

Petko Karawelow was buried in the Sweti Sedmochislenizi Church, which before 1903 was still used as a prison in which Karawelow was imprisoned in 1891. After his death, Aleksandar Malinov succeeded him as chairman of the Democratic Party.

Web links

• biography
• Bulgaria 1879-1896
• Bulgaria 1896-1914

Individual evidence

1. ^ President of the National Assembly
2. ↑ Homepage of the Democratic Party ( Memento of the original from June 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.