Administrative-law scholar and Fatherland Front foreign minister who signed the armistice and was dropped at Soviet insistence
Born in Kazanlak, he studied law in France, served as an officer in the Balkan Wars and took a doctorate in Paris in 1914. Professor of administrative law at Sofia University from 1923 and a full member of the Academy of Sciences from 1942, he was active in the Democratic Alliance (Naroden Sgovor), sat in parliament from 1923, was minister of railways, posts and telegraphs in 1930–1931 and envoy to Belgium and France in 1934–1935. In 1943 he added his signature to Peshev’s letter against the deportation of the Jews and joined the Fatherland Front. As foreign minister from September 1944 he took part in the Moscow armistice talks and signed the armistice. His 1945 remark that the elections might be postponed cost him Soviet trust, and in 1946 Molotov had him dropped from the cabinet.
Activities and affiliations
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1923–1963
Bulgaria state institutionsProfessor of administrative law, Sofia University
Scholarship and theory -
1923–1972
Bulgaria state institutionsMember of the National Assembly
Legislature and state representation -
1930–1931
Bulgaria state institutionsMinister of Railways, Posts and Telegraphs
Government and administration -
1943–
Political and party leadership
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1944–1946
Bulgaria state institutionsMinister of Foreign AffairsMain
Diplomacy and international organization -
1944–1949
Political and party leadership
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Democratic Alliance (Bulgaria)
Diplomacy and international organization
Career Timeline
- 1914Doctorate in Paris
- 1923Begins teaching administrative law at Sofia; elected deputy
- 1930–1931Minister of railways, posts and telegraphs
- 1934–1935Envoy to Belgium and France
- 1943Joins the Fatherland Front
- 1944.09–1946.03.31Foreign minister
- 1944.10.28Signs the armistice in Moscow
- 1950–1972Member of the National Assembly