Grigor Dimitrov Nachovich ( bg, Григор Димитров Начович; 3 February 1845 – 4 January 1920) was 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 and diplomat. One of the early leaders of the Conservative Party and the country's first

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

, he served as a minister in a number of Bulgarian governments (including some formed by liberal parties) from the late 1879 to 1900, and was also

mayor of Sofia This is a chronological list of mayors of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, since that post was established after the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878. The first governor of Sofia was Petr Alabin. Initially, the mayors of Sofia were assigned by the ...

in 1896–1897. Nachovich was born in the

Danubian The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

town of

Svishtov Svishtov ( bg, Свищов ) is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svishtov Municipalit ...

in central northern Bulgaria on to the family of a wealthy Bulgarian merchant. He studied at the Greek-language school in Svishtov, at a

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

college and at economy schools in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He graduated in

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

in Paris and returned to Svishtov to work as a merchant. In 1866, he headed the local revolutionary committee aimed at liberating Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. After

Filip Totyu Todor Todorov Topalov (or Topalski) ( bg, Тодор Тодоров Топалов or Топалски; 1830-23 March 1907), better known under the pseudonym Filip Totyu (Филип Тотю), was a Bulgarian revolutionary of the Bulgarian National ...

's armed detachment invaded Bulgaria in 1867, Nachovich was forced to flee to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, fearing government persecution due to his involvement in the revolutionary movement. In Romania, Nachovich co-operated with the Band of Virtues, a Bulgarian expatriate organisation, and financed volunteer participation in the

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

-based Second Bulgarian Legion. In 1868, he settled in Vienna. In the capital of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, he worked at the local branch of his father's trading company. He founded the literary society ''Progress'' (Напредък, ''Napredak'') and contributed to various French and

German-language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a c ...

newspapers. During the Serbo-Turkish conflict in 1876, Nachovich aided Bulgarian volunteers who assisted the

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n forces. For the course of the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histo ...

two years later, Nachovich served at the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n general staff. After the Liberation of Bulgaria in the wake of that war and the establishment of the

Principality of Bulgaria The Principality of Bulgaria ( bg, Княжество България, Knyazhestvo Balgariya) was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the Russo-Turkish War ende ...

, Nachovich became a prominent figure in conservative Bulgarian politics. He was minister of finance in the first ever Bulgarian government headed by

Todor Burmov Todor ( Bulgarian, and sr, Тодор/Todor) is a Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbian given name, a local rendering of the name Theodore. The Hungarian form of the name is rendered similarly as ''Tódor''. It is the most common name in Bulgarian vil ...

as well as three years later (1879 and 1882–1883), minister of external affairs and religion (1879–1880), assistant-mayor of the capital

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

(1880–1881), minister of internal affairs (1882), and member of the State Council during

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Alexander Battenberg Alexander Joseph ( bg, Александър I Батенберг; 5 April 185717 November 1893), known as Alexander of Battenberg, was the first prince ('' knyaz'') of the Principality of Bulgaria from 1879 until his abdication in 1886. The Bul ...

's personal régime (1881–1883). As the regime ended, Nachovich also headed the ministry of finance during

Dragan Tsankov Dragan Kiriakov Tsankov ( bg, Драган Киряков Цанков) (9 November 1828 – 24 March 1911) was a Bulgarian politician and the first Liberal Party Prime Minister of the country. He was born in Svishtov. Tsankov was initially a ...

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

(1883–1884). In 1882, he became a correspondent member of what is today the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; bg, Българска академия на науките, ''Balgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated ''БАН'') is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy ...

; in 1884, he became a full member. In 1884, Nachovich was appointed Bulgaria's diplomatic representative in Bucharest, Romania, a post he formally held until 1889. After Prince Alexander's dethronement in 1886, Nachovich returned to the country to serve as minister of finance in several governments from 1886 to 1888. From 1889 to 1891, Nachovich represented Bulgaria in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, only to return to Bulgaria as a minister of finance and minister of internal affairs (1891–1892 and 1894–1896), mayor of Sofia (1896–1897) and minister of commerce and agriculture (1899–1900). From 1903 to 1906, Nachovich was Bulgarian diplomatic representative in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

(

Tsarigrad ''Tsargrad'' is a Slavic name for the city or land of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul in Turkey), the capital of the Byzantine Empire. It is rendered in several ways depending on the language, for instance Old Church Slavonic Цѣсарь ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. In 1913, he took part in the Treaty of London negotiations during the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

. Grigor Nachovich died in Sofia on 4 January 1920, aged 74.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nachovich, Grigor 1845 births 1920 deaths People from Svishtov Conservative Party (Bulgaria) politicians People's Party (Bulgaria) politicians People's Liberal Party politicians Finance ministers of Bulgaria Diplomats from Sofia Mayors of Sofia Members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Bulgarian expatriates in Austria 19th-century Bulgarian people