Aleksandar Stamboliyski Monument

Aleksandar Stamboliyski Monument is positioned in front of the Sofia National Opera and Ballet building, near the main entrance. The sculptor Prof. Dr.Sc.(Econ.) Marko Markov created the figure of the famous agricultural advisor in full size. The location for the statue was not picked at random. The Bulgarian National Health Agency acquired the property on which the opera house now stands in 1921 with the intention of erecting the new party headquarters there. For a variety of reasons, this concept is not realized in the following decades. The arch-designed proposal was decided after September 9, 1944. The Lazar Parashkevanov building will serve as both the party’s headquarters and an opera venue. The opera house was finished in 1953, and the party headquarters has been in service since 1957. For a long time, the whole structure has been known as the “Alexander Stamboliyski Home-Monument.”

Who was Aleksandar Stamboliyski?

Alexander Stoimenov Stamboliyski was born on March 1, 1879, in the Pazardzhik settlement of Slavovitsa. He attended an agricultural school beside Sdovo, as well as a wine-making school in Pleven. He was still quite young and attracted by agricultural ideals when he attended the first Bulgarian Agricultural Union Congress. In Germany, he studied philosophy and agronomy but was unable to complete his studies owing to disease. He returned to Bulgaria and quickly became involved in politics. The National Assembly Member serves in the xiv, XVI, XVIII, XVIII, XIX, and XX Ordinary National Assembly, as well as the V Grand National Assembly. He rose to become the unquestioned chief of the kingdom’s agricultural forces. He was an outspoken opponent of Bulgaria’s involvement in World War I, and following the Armistice of Thessaloniki, he rose to become one of the country’s most powerful leaders. He was Minister of Public Buildings, Roads, and Public Works in Teodor Teodorov’s coalition government in 1919, and he has been Prime Minister of Bulgaria since October 6, that year. As a result, on November 27, 1919, he signed the Neue Dikta and shattered his pen in protest of the severe provisions imposed by the winning governments. Stamboliyski governed Bulgaria until June 9, 1923, when he was deposed in a coup organized by the Military Union and the People’s Party. On June 14, 1923, members of the VMORO assassinated the agricultural leader at his residence in the town of Slavovitsa.