Ivan Ivanov, ( bg, Иван Иванов) (1891–1965) 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 engineer and mayor of Sofia in the period 25 May 1934 – 9 September 1944. He was born in

Sliven Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...

. He has studied in

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora ( bg, Стара Загора, ) is the sixth-largest city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province. Name The name comes from the Slavic root ''star'' ("old") and the name of the medieva ...

, the Military school of Sofia, and in 1915 he graduated civil engineering in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he headed a railroad construction in Macedonia. In 1919 he has been appointed deputy head of the water supply department of Sofia. In 1924 he started working on what turned out to be his most recognised work - the water supply line from

Rila Rila ( bg, Рила, ) is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria, the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula and Southeast Europe. It is situated in southwestern Bulgaria and forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Mountains, Rhodope Massif. The highest summit is Mus ...

mountain to Sofia. The project had a total length of 82 km, which includes 38.5 km channels, 17.9 km tunnels and 25.3 km tubes. The line was completed in 1933. In 1934 Ivanov was elected mayor of Sofia. He focused his efforts on eliminating the corruption and bureaucracy in the city hall. He published monthly the expenses the city hall has made. In 1938 the first urban plan of Sofia was created. During his term all the streets of Sofia were paved and bus and trolley-bus mass transport has been introduced. He also started large-scale tree planting on the streets of Sofia. By the end of his term Ivanov was planning the construction of Beli Iskar Dam, which had to feed the Sofia water supply line. After the

Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944 Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

Ivanov was imprisoned and sentenced for life for political reasons. Anyway, his abilities as a hydro-engineer were recognised by the communist rulers and he was allowed to continue working on the Beli Iskar Dam. Initially he worked from his prison cell, and later on he was set free. He died in 1965.

References

{{Authority control 1891 births 1965 deaths People from Sliven Technical University of Munich alumni Bulgarian civil engineers Mayors of Sofia