13 Facts About Petko Karavelov

Petko Stoychev Karavelov was a leading Bulgarian liberal politician who served as prime minister on four occasions.

Petko Karavelov was first offered the premiership in 1879 when Prince Alexander asked him to head up a coalition administration.

Petko Karavelov rejected the offer however, as Alexander required an anti-Russian government that would curb freedoms, both tenets being unacceptable to the Liberals.

Petko Karavelov relocated to Plovdiv, in the semi-autonomous Eastern Rumelia, where he found work as a teacher, before returning to Bulgaria proper in 1884.

Petko Karavelov then returned as Prime Minister from 1884 to 1886, overseeing Bulgarian unification and the Serbo-Bulgarian War.

Petko Karavelov joined Stefan Stambolov and others as a member of the Regency Council after the abdication of Alexander of Bulgaria in 1886, serving a brief third spell as Prime Minister in August of that year.

Petko Karavelov was criticised as a poor public speaker who let his ego determine many of his political decisions, although supporters lauded him as a pragmatist and a statesman with a keen academic mind.

Petko Karavelov was amnestied in 1894 with the resignation of Stambolov.

Petko Karavelov was a founder of the Democratic Party around the turn of the century.

Petko Karavelov briefly returned in 1901 to lead the party's first government.

Petko Karavelov is buried alongside his wife in the grounds of the Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church, Sofia with their grave being the only one in the church.

Petko Karavelov was father of Lora Karavelova, who was married to Peyo Yavorov.

Petko Karavelov committed suicide in 1913 during an argument with her husband which led to Yavorov being tried for, and acquitted of, her murder.