Dobri Dzhurov

Dobri Dzhurov
Army General; Dobri Dzhurov
	Добри Джуров
Minister of People's Defense of Bulgaria
	In office; 17 March 1962 – 22 August 1990
President	Todor Zhivkov
Preceded by	Ivan Mihailov
Succeeded by	Yordan Mutafchiev
Personal details
Born	5 January 1916; Lovech Province, Kingdom of Bulgaria
Died	17 June 2002 (aged 86); Sofia, Bulgaria
Citizenship	People's Republic of Bulgaria
Political party	Bulgarian Communist Party
Spouse(s)	Elena Dzhurovа
Children	Chavdar Djurov, Spartak Dzhurov
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of Bulgaria
Branch/service	Bulgarian People's Army
Years of service	1939-1990
Rank	Army General

Dobri Dzhurov (Bulgarian:Добри Джуров) was a Bulgarian politician and military leader. He was the last Defense Minister of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1962 to 1990.[1][2]

Biography

He participated in the resistance movement during the Second World War. He was the commander of a guerrilla brigade. After the communist coup in September 1944, he began work at the Ministry of the Interior and later became an officer of the Bulgarian Army. He became the Minister of People's Defense of Bulgaria in 1962. He was responsible for Bulgaria's participation in the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops in 1968. He had been a full member of the CPB since 1974.

Dzhurov played a key role in the ousting of longtime Communist leader Todor Zhivkov in December 1989. Although he and Zhivkov's relationship dated back to the resistance, he had grown increasingly disgusted with Zhivkov's behavior. When he lent his support to the plot to oust Zhivkov, he was given the task of ensuring that Zhivkov would have no room to manoeuvre.[3][4] On 9 November, a day before a scheduled Politburo meeting, Dzhurov advised Zhivkov to resign. He warned Zhivkov that the Politburo had lost confidence in him, and there were enough votes to remove him. Zhivkov was caught unawares and tried to marshal support, to no avail.[4]

Just before the meeting the next day, Dzhurov gave Zhivkov an ultimatum–unless he stepped down, the Politburo would not only vote to remove him, but have him executed realized he was at the end of his tether, and resigned.[4]

Dzhurov's son, Chavdar Dzhurov, was a military pilot who in 1965 set a record of the highest night parachute jump.

gollark: Have you done so?

gollark: Very exciting.

gollark: In just 15 days it might be announced maybe according to one thing I read somewhere.

gollark: Well, fear the RK3588 then.

gollark: Why? It uses basically none of your data allowance.

References

"Нар. Республики Болгарии, генерал армии (1962),".
"а с марта 1962 министр Нар. обороны. Д. — один из".
Thompson, Wayne C. (2008). The World Today Series: Nordic, Central and Southeastern Europe 2008. Harpers Ferry, West Virginia: Stryker-Post Publications. ISBN 978-1-887985-95-6.
Sebetsyen, Victor (2009). Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire. New York City: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-375-42532-2.

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[1] "Нар. Республики Болгарии, генерал армии (1962),".

[2] "а с марта 1962 министр Нар. обороны. Д. — один из".

[Thompson-3] Thompson, Wayne C. (2008). The World Today Series: Nordic, Central and Southeastern Europe 2008. Harpers Ferry, West Virginia: Stryker-Post Publications. ISBN 978-1-887985-95-6.

[Revolution1989-4] Sebetsyen, Victor (2009). Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire. New York City: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-375-42532-2.