Ivan Ivanov, (1891 - 1965) was a Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

n engineer and mayor of Sofia in the period 25 May 1934 - 9 September 1944. He was born in Sliven

Sliven

Sliven is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality. It is a relatively large town with 89,848 inhabitants, as of February 2011....

. He has studied in Stara Zagora

Stara Zagora

Stara Zagora is the sixth largest city in Bulgaria, and a nationally important economic center. Located in Southern Bulgaria, it is the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province...

, the Military school of Sofia, and in 1915 he graduated civil engineering in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 he headed a railroad construction in Macedonia

Macedonia (region)

Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...

. In 1919 he has been appointed deputy head of the water supply department of Sofia. In 1924 he started working on what turned out to be his most recognised work - the water supply line from Rila

Rila

Rila is a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria and the highest mountain range of Bulgaria and the Balkans, with its highest peak being Musala at 2,925 m...

 mountain to Sofia. The project had a total length of 82 km, which includes 38.5 km channels, 17.9 km tunnels and 25.3 km tubes. The line was completed in 1933.

In 1934 Ivanov was elected mayor of Sofia. He focused his efforts on eliminating the corruption and bureaucracy in the city hall. He published monthly the expenses the city hall has made. In 1938 the first urban plan of Sofia was created. During his term all the streets of Sofia were paved and bus and trolley-bus mass transport has been introduced. He also started large-scale tree planting on the streets of Sofia. By the end of his term Ivanov was planning the construction of Beli iskar Dam, which had to feed the Sofia water supply line.

After the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944

Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944

The Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944, also known as the 9 September coup d'état and called in pre-1989 Bulgaria the National Uprising of 9 September or the Socialist Revolution of 9 September was a change in the Kingdom of Bulgaria's administration and government carried out on the eve of 9 September...

Ivanov was imprisoned and sentenced for life for political reasons. Anyway, his abilities as a hydro-engineer were recognised by the communist rulers and he was allowed to continue working on the Beli Iskar Dam. Initially he worked from his prison cell, and later on he was set free.

He died in 1965.