Georgi Vazov

Georgi Minchov Vazov (January 5, 1860 – August 13, 1934) was a Bulgarian-Russian militiaman. He was one of the main organizers of the 1886 Bulgarian coup d'état, aimed at the dethronement of Prince Alexander Battenberg. During the First Balkan War, he commanded the Eastern Sector during the Siege of Adrianople, where the offensive that led to the capture of the city took place.

Biography Georgi Vazov was born on January 5, 1860, in Sopot. He is the 5th child in the family of merchant Mincho Vazov and Saba Hadjinikolova-Vazova. He is the brother of the writer Ivan Vazov, the doctor Kiril Vazov, lieutenant general Vladimir Vazov, politician Boris Vazov. He is the father of the director Alexander Vazov and the uncle of the politician Ivan Vazov.

Vazov grew up in a relatively wealthy family. His father Mincho Vazov is a major merchant and entrepreneur, owner of some of the largest shops in the center of Sopot, trading in Wallachia. In 1866, the eldest brother of the Ivan family took young Georgi to the "mutual school" in Klisura with teacher Nacho Trufchev. Georgi Vazov reflects about the school as he comments:

In 1873 he graduated from the mutual school in his hometown, but due to the health problems his father had, he had to work in his fathers shop. In the autumn of 1874 he entered the 3rd high school class of the Aprilov High School in Gabrovo, but in 1876 due to a riot that he participated in, he was expelled from the high school and returned to Sopot. Sopot did not revolt during the April Uprising of 1876, but nevertheless the people of Sopot witnessed the atrocities of the Bashi-bazouk.

After the suppression of the uprising in the autumn of the same year, Mincho Vazov decided to send his son Georgi to Oltenitza, Romania, to his brother Kiril. He stayed there for a year and studied at the Bulgarian school there.

Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, Georgi Vazov worked as a clerk in the Russian administration in Svishtov.

After the liberation (1878–1884) In the spring of 1878, under the leadership of the governor of Svishtov, Naiden Gerov, a competition was held, thanks to which 10 boys had the opportunity to study at the Odessa Junker School in Russia. One of the ten lucky ones is Georgi Vazov. At the beginning of May, the group was assembled and the future cadets are preparing to leave for Odessa. They arrived there in June and began their three-month preparation for the entrance exams at the Military School. His military training passed as a "volunteer" in the 55th Podolsk Regiment of the Odessa garrison. Vazov passed his exam on September 1, 1878, and after being admitted he was enlisted in the 2nd Junker Company. He showed special inclinations towards military tactics and artillery. He completed his studies on September 1, 1880, with the rank of senior cadet and returned to Bulgaria.

Upon his arrival in Varna, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, which equated him with the graduation of the second class of the Vasil Levski National Military University in Sofia. On October 8, 1880, Lieutenant Vazov in the 1st Company of Alexander of Battenberg with the position of subattler officer in the 2nd Company, and on September 9, 1881, he was appointed head of the garrison warehouse. The young officer did not like the position and with the help of his brother Ivan Vazov, who at that time resided in the capital of Eastern Rumelia, Plovdiv on November 26 of the same year he was transferred to the East Rumelia militia.

In Plovdiv, Georgi Vazov was appointed on December 11, 1881, again as a subattler officer in the 1st Plovdiv Company. Vazov's diligence and intelligence did not go unnoticed by the district 's governor-general, Aleko Bogoridi, and he was appointed his third adjutant.

After the beginning of the Second Balkan War, Georgi Vazov was appointed Minister of War in the government of Stoyan Danev and in the government of Vasil Radoslavov and was promoted to lieutenant general. The telegram was presented by Aleksandar Stamboliyski at an audience with Ferdinand, but he flatly rejected this course of action.

In 1920, his health deteriorated and he was forced to go to Vienna for treatment at the end of the year. His illness necessitated a complex surgical operation, which was performed in February 1922. His rehabilitation lasted almost two years, which he spent in sanatoriums in Switzerland, Germany and Italy. In 1922 he wrote his Memoirs of the Balkan War in Geneva.

Georgi Vazov returned to Bulgaria on May 24, 1924, and 4 days later the leadership of the volunteer "Edirne Society" organized a celebration in his honor, at which he was officially accepted as a member of the society. A survey conducted in 1926 by the Ministry of Defense shows that Vazov devoted himself to his work on historical and memoir works. At that time the manuscripts of the "Monograph on the Participation of the Bulgarians in the Liberation War", "Memories of the Union and the Serbo-Bulgarian War", "Strengthening the Northern Border of Bulgaria" and "The Bulgarian Flotilla" were ready. In 1919, General Vazov published his memoirs "In the Deserts of Central Asia". General Vazov is the author of dozens of articles in the field of military affairs.

Lieutenant General Georgi Vazov died on August 13, 1934, in Sofia. His remains were transported on a gun carriage as was the custom for a burial of a military hero. He was buried in the Central Sofia Cemetery to the sounds of mourning military music.