Valko Chervenkov
| Valko Velev Chervenkov Вълко Велев Червенков |
|
|---|---|
| 34th Prime Minister of Bulgaria | |
|
In office 23 January 1950 – 18 April 1956 |
|
| Preceded by | Vasil Kolarov |
| Succeeded by | Anton Yugov |
| Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria | |
|
In office 20 July 1949 – 3 February 1950 |
|
| General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party | |
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In office 2 July 1949 – 4 March 1954 |
|
| Preceded by | Georgi Dimitrov |
| Succeeded by | Todor Zhivkov |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
6 September 1900 Zlatitsa, Bulgaria |
| Died | 21 October 1980 (aged 80) Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Nationality | Bulgarian |
| Political party | Bulgarian Communist Party |
| Spouse(s) | Elena Dimitrova (sister of Georgi Dimitrov) |
| Religion |
Atheism prev. Bulgarian Orthodox |
Valko Velev Chervenkov (Bulgarian: Вълко Велев Червенков) was a Bulgarian communist politician. He served as leader of the Communist Party between 1950 and 1954, and Prime Minister between 1950 and 1956. His rule was marked by the consolidation of the Stalin model, rapid industrialisation, collectivisation and large-scale persecution of political opponents.
Chervenkov was born in Zlatitsa, Bulgaria. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1919 and participated in communist youth group activities and newspaper editing. He took part in the failed 1923 September Uprising and was sentenced to death, but was allowed to emigrate to the Soviet Union.
In 1925 Chervenkov fled to the Soviet Union. He attended the Marx-Lenin school in Moscow and eventually became its director. He became a supporter of the governing style of Joseph Stalin and was known for his high wit and knowledge of Marxism–Leninism. He was recruited as an agent in the NKVD under the alias "Spartak". In 1941, Chervenkov became the director of a radio station which sent anti-nazi and pro-communist messages to the Bulgarian people.
In 1944 Chervenkov returned to Bulgaria on a mission for his brother-in-law, Georgi Dimitrov. Chervenkov became a member of the government which took office soon after the end of World War II in 1945 which quickly came to be controlled by Communists. He became minister of culture in 1947, and became deputy prime minister in 1949. Shortly after becoming deputy prime minister, Bulgarian leader Georgi Dimitrov died and Bulgaria temporarily adopted a model of collective leadership. Chervenkov became general secretary of the party, and Vasil Kolarov took Dimitrov's other post of prime minister. Kolarov himself died in 1950, and Chervenkov fused the two most powerful offices in Bulgaria once again, with full Soviet approval.
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