Damian Velchev (4 March 1883, Gabrovo

Gabrovo

Gabrovo is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province. It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international capital of humour and satire , as well as noted for its Bulgarian National...

 - 25 January 1954) was a Bulgarian politician and military man.

In 1930, he became a member of a pro-Zveno

Zveno

Zveno was a Bulgarian military and political organization, founded in 1927 by army officers. It was associated with a newspaper of that name....

 group. In 1934, he was the leader of the pro-Zveno coup, but did not become a minister and stayed in the background. After the counter-coup in 1935, Velchev fled abroad, but later slipped back into the country and was arrested. He was sentenced to death in 1936, but his life was spared by King Boris III. In 1943, he joined the Fatherland Front

Fatherland Front (Bulgaria)

The Fatherland Front was originally a Bulgarian political resistance movement during World War II. The Zveno movement, the communist Bulgarian Workers Party, a wing of the Agrarian Union and the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party, were all part of the FF...

, a pro-communist, anti-Axis resistance movement. In 1944, the Fatherland Front seized power and Velchev became Minister of Defence. He resigned in 1946 because of purges within the army. Later, he became ambassador to Switzerland, but after a while he resigned and asked for political asylum. He stayed in Switzerland until his death.