Ivan Kurtev
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19 March 1936
- Bulgarian Social Democratic Party (until 1991)
- Social Democratic Party (from 1992)
Ivan Kurtev | |
|---|---|
Иван Куртев | |
| Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly of Bulgaria | |
| In office 1995–2001 | |
| Chairman of the Social Democratic Party | |
| Assumed office 1992 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ivan Milkov Kurtev 19 March 1936 |
| Party |
|
| Alma mater | Sofia University |
| Occupation | Politician, teacher |
Ivan Milkov Kurtev (Иван Милков Куртев; born 19 March 1936) is a Bulgarian politician, founder and long-time leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He served as a Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly of Bulgaria in the 37th and 38th legislatures from 1995 to 2001 and was a senior figure in the Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) during the 1990s.[1][2]
Kurtev was born on 19 March 1936 in the town of Lyubimets in southern Bulgaria. He completed his secondary education at the First Boys' High School in Sofia in 1954, and obtained a higher pedagogical qualification in Sofia in 1957. From 1963 to 1982 he worked for the Union of the Deaf, and in 1967 he graduated in pedagogy from Sofia University. Between 1982 and 1990 he taught in schools for deaf children in Sofia while also working in hearing and speech rehabilitation.[3]
Political career
Split within the BSDP and creation of the SDP
Kurtev was a member of the restored Bulgarian Social Democratic Party (BSDP), which after 1989 was a co-founder of the anti-communist Union of Democratic Forces coalition.[4] Following the adoption of the new Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria on 12 July 1991, the BSDP underwent its first major split. On 17 and 18 August 1991, an initiative committee held what it called the 39th Extraordinary Congress of the BSDP in Sofia, which elected Kurtev as the new leader of the breakaway formation; after a court dispute, his group adopted the name Social Democratic Party (SDP), with 14 April 1992 recognised as the founding date of the new party.[4][5] The new SDP immediately joined the SDS coalition.[4]
Parliamentary career
Kurtev was elected to the National Assembly of Bulgaria in the 36th, 37th and 38th legislatures, and served as a deputy chairman of the assembly between 1995 and 2001. He was also a member of the National Coordinating Council of the SDS and, in the 1990s, served as Chief Secretary of the coalition.[2][1]
At the 1997 parliamentary election, the SDP ran within the United Democratic Forces (ODS) electoral alliance and obtained 11 seats in the 38th National Assembly, with Kurtev serving as a deputy chairman of the chamber under Speaker Yordan Sokolov during the government of Ivan Kostov.[5][1] Stenographic records show him repeatedly chairing plenary sessions of the National Assembly during this period.[2]
Commemoration of Dimitar Peshev
As Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly, Kurtev took part in the official Bulgarian commemoration of Dimitar Peshev, the wartime Deputy Speaker of parliament who in 1943 led a parliamentary protest that contributed to halting the deportation of Bulgaria's Jewish population. In his speech, Kurtev described Peshev and his fellow members of parliament as having "provided an example of uprightness, loyalty to democracy, humanism, concern for man and Christian love for one's fellowmen", and stated that Bulgaria was justly proud of them.[6]