Georgi Dimitrov

Georgi Dimitrov (1882-1949), Bulgarian Communist leader, born near Radomir. A printer by trade, he became a member of the central committee of the Communist Workers' party in 1909. In 1923 he led an abortive Communist uprising and had to flee the country. Arrested in Berlin on the charge of complicity in the Reichstag fire in 1933, he won world renown for his able defence in which he accused the Nazi regime of staging the fire and the trial for political ends. Acquitted, Dimitrov settled in the Soviet Union. He was Secretary-General (1935-1943) of the Comintern and a member (1937-1945) of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. During World War II he was a leader in the Bulgarian resistance movement. He was Prime Minister of the Bulgarian People's Republic from 1946 until his death. He helped found the Cominform in 1947.