Ivan Fichev was born in 1860 in Tırnova in the
Ottoman Empire (now
Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria). He was a grandson of the famous architect from the National Revival,
Kolyu Ficheto. Fichev studied in Veliko Tarnovo,
Gabrovo and in
Robert College in
Istanbul. During the
Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) he participated in the Bulgarian volunteer corps and later served as translator for the temporary
Russian governors in Gabrovo and Tarnovo. In 1880 he was accepted in the Military School in Sofia and graduated in 1882 with the rank of
lieutenant and was assigned to serve in the 20th Varna infantry battalion. In August 1885 he was promoted to
First Lieutenant.
Serbo-Bulgarian War During the
Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885 he was a commander of 2nd Company in the 5th Danube Regiment and participated in the defense of
Vidin between 12 and 16 November.
1886–1911 In January 1887 he was promoted to the rank of
Captain and in 1898 graduated the Military Academy in
Turin, Italy. On 1 January 1892 he was promoted a
Major and on 1 January 1903 a
Colonel. From the beginning of 1907 he was appointed a commander of the Second Thracian Infantry Division based in
Plovdiv and on 1 January 1908 Ivan Fichev was promoted a
Major General. From 1910 to 1914 he was the Chief of the
General Staff of the
Bulgarian Army, which includes the time during the two
Balkan Wars, and as such was responsible for devising the general plan for the war against the
Ottoman Empire.
Balkan Wars During the
First Balkan War (1912–1913) he was the head of the operations in
Thrace and fought in the successful battles at
Lozengrad and
Lule Burgas but after the Bulgarian advance was repulsed at
Chataldja only 20 km from the
Ottoman capital
Istanbul, he fell into disgrace. He was one of the Bulgarian delegates during the negotiations that lead to the signing of the Chataldja Armistice on . In May 1913 Fichev resigned from his post as an act of protest but his resignation was not accepted and during the
Second Balkan War he remained on the post of
Chief of the General Staff of the Army. He also signed the
Bucharest Peace Treaty as part of the Bulgarian delegation during the negotiations.
Latter life After the Balkan Wars he continued to serve as
Chief of the General Staff of the Army. On 1 January 1914 he was promoted a
Lieutenant General and two weeks later was appointed commander of the 3rd Military District. On 14 September that year he was appointed a Minister of War and served as such until August 1915 when he went into the reserve. After the
First World War he was a
Minister Plenipotentiary in the
Romanian capital
Bucharest. Ivan Fiched died on 13 November 1931 in Sofia. ==Awards==