Dimitar Petkov

For the Bulgarian footballer, see Dimitar Petkov (footballer).
Dimitar Petkov
Димитър Петков
14th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
In office
6 December 1906 – 11 March 1907
MonarchFerdinand
Preceded byRacho Petrov
Succeeded byDimitar Stanchov (Acting)
Personal details
Born(1858-11-02)2 November 1858
Tulcea, Ottoman Empire (now in Romania)
Died11 March 1907(1907-03-11) (aged 48)
Sofia, Bulgaria
NationalityBulgarian
Political partyPeople'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 5 November 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]

Petkov was finally appointed Prime Minister in November 1906, but held the post for only a few months; on 11 March 1907, he was assassinated by gunshot in Sofia's Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard by Aleksandar Petrov, a disgruntled former employee of the Bulgarian Agricultural Bank. Petrov was put on trial, handed a death sentence and executed by hanging in July 1907.[5]

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

  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. ^ Markov, Georgi (2003). Покушения, насилие и политика в България 1878 – 1947. Sofia: Military Publishing House. pp. 104–116.
  6. ^ Joseph Rothschild, The Communist party of Bulgaria: origins and development, 1883-1936, AMS Press, 1972, p. 37