Ivan Evstratiev Geshov ( bg, Иван Евстратиев Гешов) (20 February 1849 OS">Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe">OS– 11 March 1924) 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 who served as Bulgarian Prime Minister. He was born in

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

to a family of merchants originally from

Karlovo Karlovo ( bg, Карлово ) is a historically important town in central Bulgaria located in a fertile valley along the river Stryama at the southern foot of the Balkan Mountains. It is administratively part of Plovdiv Province and has a p ...

. Geshov was educated at the Bulgarian Sts. Cyrill and Methodius High School in

, as well as at Owens College in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

(1866-1869), where he studied logic and political economy under Stanley Jevons. Geshov first came to political attention through his involvement in the campaign for Bulgarian independence from the

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) ...

. He wrote a series of letters against the Ottomans and was sentenced to death, although this was later commuted to exile in

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

. He was pardoned in 1878 after independence was gained and returned to Bulgaria to become involved in the government of Eastern Rumelia, taking on a number of roles including

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", " ...

for the region. As governor of the Bulgarian National Bank from 1883 onwards he became recognized as one of the country's leading economic minds and was eventually appointed Finance Minister in the government of

Vasil Radoslavov Vasil Hristov Radoslavov ( bg, Васил Христов Радославов) (27 July 1854 – 21 October 1929) was a leading Bulgarian liberalism, liberal politician who twice served as List of Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Prime Minister ...

in 1886. In this role, and subsequent spells as Finance Minister, he tended to follow

protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

in order to build up Bulgaria's fairly backward economy. However he was opposed to the policies of Stefan Stambolov, at the time one of the country's regents, and resigned in 1887, largely over the pro-

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 ...

stance of Stambolov. After a break from political life, he returned as Finance Minister in the government of Konstantin Stoilov in 1894, a position he held for three years. In 1901 he became President of the Sabranie (Assembly) and that same year was elected leader of the People's Party, following the death of Stoilov. In 1908, he took part in the so called "Geshoff incident". Geshov finally formed a government on 29 March 1911, heading a moderate coalition of nationalists and Stoyan Danev's Russophile faction. As Prime Minister he supported the introduction of the

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

electoral system. He also supported the policy of working through the

Balkan League The League of the Balkans was a quadruple alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Eastern Orthodox kingdoms of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which at the ...

and led the country through the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

against

. However, he resigned on 30 May 1913, the day that the Treaty of London was signed to end the War, as he opposed the Tsar's policy of making war on the Balkan League allies. Despite this, it had been Geshov's government that gave the Tsar the power to sign treaties in the first place. Geshov remained in politics as a member of the parliament, joining the Democratic Party in 1923 after the fall of the government of Aleksandar Stamboliyski, but he played no further roles in government. Outside politics he fulfilled a number of roles, including editor of the ''Maritsa'' newspaper, founder of the Study Society and the Scientific and Literary Society and chairman of the Bulgarian

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

(1899-1924) and 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 ...

(1911-1924).

References

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* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Geshov, Ivan Evstratiev 1849 births 1924 deaths Politicians from Plovdiv People's Party (Bulgaria) politicians Prime Ministers of Bulgaria Foreign ministers of Bulgaria Finance ministers of Bulgaria Members of the National Assembly (Bulgaria) Members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Governors of the Bulgarian National Bank Bulgarian expatriates in the United Kingdom Bulgarian people of the Balkan Wars Recipients of Bulgarian royal pardons