Aleksandar Panayotov Karakachanov ( bg, Александър Панайотов Каракачанов; born September 11, 1960) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n politician, social activist, dissident and university professor.

Biography

Karakachanov was born in Sofia on September 11, 1960, in the family of Gen. Panayot Karakachanov. He completed his secondary education in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, then

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, and went on to read philosophy at

Sofia University Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" at the University of Sofia, ( bg, Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, ''Sofijski universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“'') is the oldest higher education i ...

. In 1989 he obtained a PhD within the Programme for Research of the Human Brain (the title of his thesis is "An integrated approach to man as a bio-psycho-social creature : dialectics of the biological, psychological and social") and became an assistant lecturer.Profile of Aleksandar Karakachanov at OMDA.bg (in Bulgarian)
/ref> In 1993 graduated in Economics from

UNWE The University of National and World Economy ( bg, Университет за национално и световно стопанство) is a university in Sofia, Bulgaria. Notable alumni of the university are five Prime Ministers of Bulga ...

. Currently, Karakachanov teaches in

and SULSIT. Author of "Man and Consciousness".http://www.helikon.bg/books/14/158001_chovek-i-saznanie.html Married, with a child.

Political activity

Before the regime change of 1989, Karakachanov was a City Councillor in Sofia. He became a founding member of the Club in Support of Glasnost and Perestroika and a founder and chairman of the

Green Party of Bulgaria The Green Party of Bulgaria ( bg, Зелена партия, Zelena partiya) is an environmentalist political party in Bulgaria. It was founded in Sofia in 1989 by Aleksandar Karakachanov, who later went on to become the chairperson of the part ...

, two of the dissident civil organisations which were active before Nov 10, 1989. A third,

Ecoglasnost Ecoglasnost ( bg, Екогласност), also known as ''Independent Society of Ecoglasnost'' ( bg, Независимо сдружение Екогласност), is an independent Bulgarian environmental organization, established on 11 April ...

, was founded in Karakachanov's apartment on Apr 11, 1989. After the 1989 changes, Karakachanov and the Green Party became a founding member of the Union of Democratic Forces, Bulgaria's opposition organisation. Participated in the Round table negotiations between the ruling Communist party and the opposition, whose goal was to prepare the country for the first post-Communist elections. Karakachanov was elected to the Seventh Great National Assembly (July 10, 1990 – Oct 2, 1991), which forged the current Constitution of Bulgaria, and to the Thirty-Eighth National Assembly (May 7, 1997 – Apr 19, 2001). Karakachanov served as Caretaker Mayor of Sofia (first mayor of the UDF) from Oct 17, 1990, to Oct 20, 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karakachanov, Aleksandar 1960 births Living people Union of Democratic Forces (Bulgaria) politicians Mayors of Sofia Sofia University alumni Candidates for President of Bulgaria