VULKO Chervenkov is a less well-remembered historical figure than his brother-in-law Georgi Dimitrov, but he had a certain impact on the country's history.

Dimitrov's death in 1949 opened the way for Chervenkov who, like Dimitrov, had spent the years of World War 2 in Moscow and was an acolyte of Stalin. In turn, Chervenkov came to be known as "The Bulgarian Stalin".

A firm person strongly convinced of the correctness of his party line, Chervenkov was an active participant in the suppression of non-communist political opposition and supported physical retribution against political opponents.

Imprisoned in concentration camps and prisons, those opponents who did not die became even stauncher in their rejection of the regime.

Chervenkov told his associates that a politician who spoke too openly about everything aroused mistrust. This approach was similar to the Stalinist doctrine of discipline, requiring the building of a wall of communist ideology between the leader and the common people.

Chervenkov was born in 1900 in the village of Zlatitsa and became a political member of the communist party at the age of 19. By the age of 50, he had climbed to the highest party seat.

The turning point for his career was in 1923 when he took part in the September uprising and was sentenced to death, but he was allowed to emigrate to the Soviet Union, where he became involved in the Comintern (Communist International).

In Moscow, Chervenkov was steeped in dogmatic political education. He was known for his wit and high motivation as well as strong educational background. He was soon noted as among the Bulgarian communists best acquainted with communist ideology.

Chervenkov started climbing the political ladder to the top in 1941 as a member of the Central Committee Bureau of the Bulgarian Communist Party in exile in Moscow, being in charge of the then underground communist "Hristo Botev" radio station.

In 1944, the year the communists took power in Bulgaria, Chervenkov returned to the country, a return that was marked by both ups and downs. He was liked by many for his open manner of expression and he was opposed by others who criticised his one-person cult worship.

Six years later, after Stalin's death and the separation in the Soviet Union of the positions of party leader and head of government, Chervenkov conceded the position of party leader to Todor Zhivkov.

Shortly before that Chervenkov remained in the shadow of Dimitrov concealing his ambitions to climb up the top.

The year of glory for Chervenkov was 1950 when he became prime minister, with the backing of Stalin, and took the reigns of the communist party only to enjoy fame for a six-year period.

Critics accused Chervenkov of imposing a personality cult in Bulgaria, centred on himself, and of taking personal control of both the state and party structures. His personality was supreme, and under his regime there was no shred of democracy, freedom of ideas, or self-criticism.

After gaining power, Zhivkov cast the blame on him for the Stalinist overindulgences and violations of the socialist concept of law, which were characteristic of the 1948-53 periods. Stalin's death in 1953 made Chervenkov's position vulnerable and the end of his political career came at the end of 1961 when Zhivkov took on the additional post of prime minister thus combining the positions of party leader and head of government.

The country's complete dependence on the Soviet Union, and its implicit obedience to the Kremlin-imposed domestic and foreign political line, made the idea of a "people's democracy" as the official form of government utterly meaningless. Having gained the support of the new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, Zhivkov gradually removed Chervenkov from all posts by 1962.

Chervenkov was expelled from the communist party and died in 1981.