Georgi Dimitrov
Georgi Dimitrov Георги Димитров | |
|---|---|
 Dimitrov in 1930. | |
| Born |
Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov 18 June 1882 Kovachevtsi, Principality of Bulgaria |
| Died |
2 July 1949 Barvikha, RSFSR, Soviet Union |
| Nationality | Bulgarian |
| Ideology |
Marxism–Leninism Anti-revisionism |
| Political party | BCP |
Georgi Dimitrov[a] (18 June 1882–2 July 1949) was a Bulgarian Marxist–Leninist and communist revolutionary who acted as the General Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1933 until his death in 1949. A prolific revolutionary, he was an important figure in the international communist movement, having served as General Secretary of the Communist International from 1935 until its dissolution as well as leading the early People's Republic of Bulgaria.[1]
Early Life
Dimitrov was born in Kovačevci in what is now the Pernik Province, to a refugee family from Ottoman Macedonia. His father was a craftsman but he eventually become a factory worker. Dimitrov's mother, Parashkeva Doseva, was a devout Protestant Christian, and his family is sometimes described as Protestant. The family moved to Radomir and then to Sofia. Many of Georgi's siblings engaged in leftist political activities. His brother Nikola moved to Russia and joined the Bolsheviks in Odessa. In 1908, Nikola was arrested and exiled to Siberia where he died in 1916. Georgi's brother Konstantin became a trade union leader but he died in the First Balkan War in 1912.
Dimitrov was sent to Sunday school by his mother but he was expelled at age 12. He then trained as a compositor, this lead him too become active in the labor movement in Sofia. By age 15, he was an active trade union member. When he was 18 in 1900, he became secretary of the Sofia branch of the printer's union.
In the BRSDP
Dimitrov became a member of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Worker's Party in 1902. The next year he became an associate of Dimitar Blagoev and sided with the Narrow Socialists in the 1903 split. In 1917 he intervened in defense of wounded soldiers who were forced to leave a first-class railway carriage by an officer. This caused Dimitrov to be charged with incitement to mutiny and imprisoned until 1919. Later in 1919 the Narrow Socialists reformed into the Bulgarian Communist Party under the Bolshevist line.
In the Bulgarian Communist Party
After he got out of prison he went underground and tried twice to get to the Bolshevik controlled part of Russia. In 1921 he was finally able to get to Moscow. He went back to Bulgaria later that year. In 1922 went back to Moscow, where he was elected to the Executive Bureau of Profintern (The international trade union organization of the Comintern). After the 1925 St Nedelya Church assault, Dimitrov was tried in absentia in May 1926 and sentenced to death, although he had not approved the operation. He remained in the Soviet Union until 1929. Dimitrov then went to Germany where he was elected to the Central European section of the Comintern.
See also
Bibliography
References
- ↑ Obituary of G.M. Dimitrov (July 28, 1949). Available on the Marxists Internet Archive.
Notes
- ↑ Bulgarian: Гео̀рги Димитро̀в Миха̀йлов, Russian: Гео́ргий Миха́йлович Дими́тров