Dimitar Petkov

For the Bulgarian footballer, see Dimitar Petkov (footballer).
Dimitar Petkov
Димитар Петков
14th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
In office
December 6, 1906 – March 11, 1907
Monarch Ferdinand
Preceded by Racho Petrov
Succeeded by Dimitar Stanchov (Acting)
Personal details
Born 2 November 1858
Tulcea, Ottoman Empire now in Romania
Died 11 March 1907 (aged 48)
Sofia, Bulgaria
Nationality Bulgarian
Political party People's Liberal Party

Dimitar Nikolov Petkov (Bulgarian: Димитър Петков) (2 November 1858, Tulcea – 11 March 1907, Sofia) was a leading member of the Bulgarian People's Liberal Party and the country's Prime Minister from November 5, 1906 until he was assassinated in Sofia the following year.

A veteran of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 he fought for the Russian Imperial Army at the Battle of Shipka Pass where he lost an arm during the combat.[1]

Petkov spent five years (1888–1893) as mayor of Sofia and during his time in charge he undertook an extensive redevelopment of the city.[2]

Following the death of Stefan Stambolov in 1895 he took over as leader of People's Liberal Party, a role he held until his own death when Nikola Genadiev succeeded him.[3] Petkov's party took office in 1903 following the resignation of Stoyan Danev but Ferdinand I of Bulgaria chose a non-party Prime Minister, his close friend Racho Petrov, instead of Petkov.[4] He was finally appointed Prime Minister in November 1906 but held the post for only a few months as he was murdered by an anarchist in Sofia's Boulevard Alexander II on 11 March 1907.[5]

His son Nikola Petkov was also a politician in post-war Bulgaria before being put to death in 1947.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Thomas McGonigle, The corpse dream of N. Petkov, Northwestern University Press, 2000, p. 29
  2. ↑ Duncan M. Perry, Stefan Stambolov and the emergence of modern Bulgaria, 1870-1895, Duke University Press, 1993, p. 185
  3. ↑ R. J. Crampton, Bulgaria, Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 451
  4. ↑ R. J. Crampton, A concise history of Bulgaria, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 127
  5. ↑ McGonigle, The corpse dream of N. Petkov, p. 32
  6. ↑ Joseph Rothschild, The Communist party of Bulgaria: origins and development, 1883-1936, AMS Press, 1972, p. 37