LIAPTCHEFF, ANDREA (1866-1933), Bulgarian states man, was born on Nov. 3o, 1866, in the town of Ressen, Mace donia. He received his secondary education at Monastir, Salonika and Philippopolis and his university education at Ziirich, Berlin and Paris. He took a prominent part in the movement for the unification of Northern Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia of 1885. (See BULGARIA.) After editing jointly with D. Risoff the papers Christo Boteff and Young Bulgaria, A. Liaptcheff founded and edited the Reforms, a paper expounding the cause of Macedonia. In 1896 he joined the star: of the Zname and later on that of the Priaporetz, the organ of the Democratic party, of which he eventually became editor.
An eminent economist and financier, Andrea Liaptcheff took particular interest in the co-operative movement of which he was a pioneer, and was regularly elected to the post of president of the Supreme National Co-operative Council. For many years, until his appointment as prime minister in 1926, he was also president of the Union of the Popular Co-operative banks.
A. Liaptcheff sat in parliament almost uninterruptedly since 1908. He held successively the posts of minister of agriculture and commerce and minister of finance in the Malinoff Democratic cabinet of 1908-11. The treaty of Bulgaria's independence was signed by him at Constantinople in 1908 ; he also concluded the armistice at Salonika in 1918 after the collapse of the Bulgarian front in Macedonia. After occupying for several months the
Finance Ministry, he took in Nov. 1918 the Ministry of War, being the first civilian in Bulgaria to hold that post. He was imprisoned by Stamboliiski in 1922, together with many other statesmen of pre-war days, whose elimination from political life was aimed at. His release from prison came with the coup d'etat of June 9, 1923.
Andrea Liaptcheff became chairman of the Governmental majority in the parliament elected after the downfall of Stam boliiski. On Jan. 3, 1926, he succeeded Prof. Tsancoff as premier. He shared with his predecessor and Atanas Bouroff the leadership of the Democratic union, the party founded after June 9, by fusion of several party groups. He was premier until 1931.
The policy of appeasement and conciliation in internal and Balkan politics pursued by Liaptcheff inspired confidence in Bul garia abroad and helped to secure financial assistance from the League of Nations for the settlement of the refugees and for the financial and economic reconstruction of Bulgaria.