Chief of the Defence (Bulgaria)

Coat of Arms of the Bulgarian Armed Forces

The Chief of the Defence (Bulgarian: Началник на отбраната / Načalnik na Otbranata), until 2009 the Chief of the General Staff (Bulgarian: Началник на Генерален щаб / Načalnik na Generalen Shtab), is the chief of the Defence Staff and the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The chief is appointed by the President of Bulgaria, who is the commander-in-chief. The position dates back to the Principality of Bulgaria. The current Chief of the Defence is Vice Admiral Rumen Nikolov.

List of chiefs

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Racho Petrov	90px	1861–1942	Captain	9 September 1885	29 April 1887	1st Term
2	Stefan Paprikov	90px	1858–1920	Major	18 August 1887	23 October 1887	1st Term
3	Racho Petrov	90px	1861–1942	Major	23 October 1887	15 April 1894	2nd Term
4	Nikola Ivanov		1861–1940	Lt. Colonel	10 May 1894	29 November 1896
5	Stefan Paprikov	90px	1858–1920	Colonel	30 November 1896	18 January 1899	2nd Term
6	Varban Vinarov		1856–1908	Colonel	24 June 1899	18 February 1900
7	Stefan Ilyev		1859–1913	Colonel	18 February 1900	1 January 1904
8	Radko Dimitriev		1859–1918	Major General	1 January 1904	28 March 1907
9	Vicho Dikov		1861–1928	Major General	28 March 1907	2 November 1907
10	Atanas Nazlamov	90px	1863–1935	Major General	2 November 1907	27 March 1910
11	Ivan Fichev	90px	1860–1931	Major General	27 March 1910	14 January 1914
12	Pravoslav Tenev	90px	1862–1942	Major General	6 March 1914	15 April 1915
13	Kliment Boyadzhiev	90px	1861–1933	Major General	15 April 1915	7 September 1915
14	Konstantin Zhostov	90px	1867–1916	Major General	7 September 1915	30 August 1916	Died in office
15	Ivan Lukov	90px	1871–1926	Colonel	1 September 1916	30 December 1917	1st Term
16	Hristo Burmov		1869–1936	Major General	17 July 1918	10 October 1918
17	Ivan Lukov	90px	1871–1926	Major General	10 October 1918	27 October 1918	2nd Term
18	Stefan Nerezov	90px	1867–1925	Major General	2 November 1919	3 September 1920
19	Petar Midilev		1875–1939	Colonel	3 September 1920	3 December 1920
20	Nikola Topaldzhikov		1875–1925	Colonel	3 December 1920	20 April 1923
21	Stefan Noykov		1876–1925	Colonel	18 May 1923	9 June 1923
22	Aleksandar Davidov		1878–1925	Colonel	9 June 1923	3 July 1923
23	Vladimir Stoyanov		1879–?	Colonel	4 July 1923	1 June 1926
24	Nikola Bakardzhiev	90px	1881–1954	Major General	1 June 1926	11 January 1929	1st Term
25	Sotir Marinkov		1880–?	Major General	November 1929	31 January 1931
26	Nikola Bakardzhiev	90px	1881–1954	Lt. General	31 January 1931	6 May 1934	2nd Term
27	Mihail Yovov		1886–1951	Major General	18 May 1934	19 May 1934
28	Todor Georgiev		1882–1971	Major General	21 May 1934	26 December 1936
29	Yordan Peev		1884–1938	Major General	29 January 1937	10 October 1938	Assassinated
30	Nikola Hadzhipetkov		1891–1949	Major General	10 December 1938	11 August 1941
31	Constantine Lukasz		1890–1945	Lt. General	11 August 1941	11 May 1944
32	Trifon Trifonov		1895–1945	Major General	11 May 1944	6 September 1944
33	Kiril Yanchulev		1896–1961	Major General	6 September 1944	13 September 1944
34	Raycho Slavkov		1898–1953	Major General	14 September 1944	15 December 1944
35	Ivan Kinov		1893–1967	Major General	15 December 1944	10 December 1949
36	Asen Grekov		1893–1954	Lt. General	10 December 1949	14 December 1950
37	Ivan Bachvarov		1912–1966	Colonel General	14 December 1950	25 January 1960
38	Ivan Vrachev		1921–1994	Lt. General	25 January 1960	22 March 1962
39	Atanas Semerdzhiev		1924–	Colonel General	22 March 1962	28 December 1989
40	Hristo Dobrev		1923–2013	Colonel General	28 December 1989	15 August 1990
41	Radniu Minchev		1928–	Lt. General	15 August 1990	2 August 1991
42	Lyuben Petrov		1938–	General of the Army	2 August 1991	2 September 1994
43	Tsvetan Totomirov		1943–	Colonel General	2 September 1994	11 June 1997
44	Miho Mihov		1949–	Colonel General	11 June 1997	11 June 2002
45	Nikola Kolev		1951–	General	11 June 2002	1 June 2006
46	Zlatan Stoykov		1951–	General	1 June 2006	7 July 2009
47	Simeon Simeonov		1955–	General	7 July 2009	30 June 2014
48	Rumen Nikolov		1957–	Vice Admiral	30 June 2014	Present

See also

• Bulgarian Armed Forces