Tsankov, Aleksandur

Born June 29, 1879, in Oriakhovo; died July 17, 1959, in Buenos Aires. Bulgarian state and political figure.

Tsankov was one of the organizers of the fascist coup on June 9, 1923. From 1923 to 1926 he was head of the fascist government, which brutally crushed the September antifascist uprising of 1923 and outlawed the Communist Party and other democratic organizations in 1924. In 1926 he became president of the national assembly. In 1932, Tsankov founded a fascist party called the National Social Movement. During World War II, he favored Bulgaria’s alliance with Hitler’s Germany. In September 1944, he fled the country and became the leader of the Bulgarian fascists living abroad. For his antinational activities Tsankov was sentenced to death in abstentia by the People’s Court of Bulgaria.