Nikola Stoyanov Mitov (Bulgarian: Никола Стоянов Митов; February 3, 1874 – June 12, 1967) was a Bulgarian scientist, economist and financier. He was in charge of the Bulgarian Government Debt Directorate for much of the interwar period and as such, he led the prolonged negotiations over the country's foreign debt. The agreements helped stabilise the country's national currency and contributed to the economic growth Bulgaria experienced prior to World War II. Between 1929 and 1944, Stoyanov was editor-in-chief of the authoritative journal of the Bulgarian Economic Society. He was also a prominent member of various organisations of Macedonian immigrants to Bulgaria and one of the founders of the Macedonian Scientific Institute, as well as its chairman between 1938 and 1945. Stoyanov was the first Bulgarian author whose scientific work on astronomy was published abroad.
Early years Nikola Stoyanov was born on February 3, 1874, in the town of Dojran (today in North Macedonia). His father was a prominent citizen and for a certain period mayor of the town. Following the end of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877–78 and the subsequent Treaty of Berlin, Dojran remained outside the newly established Principality of Bulgaria. This prompted Stoyanov's family to emigrate and settle down in the new Bulgarian capital Sofia in 1880. In 1892, Nikola Stoyanov graduated from the First Sofia Men's Gymnasium. Although his initial desire was to study engineering abroad, Stoyanov received a state scholarship for the “Higher School” (today St. Clement of Ohrid University of Sofia), where he entered the physics and mathematics department. He graduated in 1895 and started work as a teacher, initially in Vidin and later on in the First Sofia Men's Gymnasium.
Scientific career
Stoyanov remained fascinated with astronomy during his years as student and teacher. In 1898, he became one of the co-founders of the Bulgarian Physics and Mathematics Society. A year later, he went to study at the University of Toulouse. This move was financed with his own savings and a loan for BGN 1,500 from the Bulgarian National Bank. In 1903, Stoyanov graduated and returned to Sofia University as a teaching assistant. He went on to specialise in mathematical physics at the University of Göttingen between 1904 and 1906. Subsequently, he once again returned to Sofia University, this time as an “extraordinary” professor in astronomy. However, he only spent a short time in this position, since following student anti-government protests in 1907, the university was closed for six months and all professors were fired. About this time, Stoyanov also specialised at the Marseille Observatory. In 1908, Nikola Stoyanov decided to put an end to his scientific career in astronomy and started work in the Bulgarian National Bank. Nevertheless, he sustained his interest in astronomy, and continued publishing scientific and popular science articles on the topic during the next decades. He was the author of the first contemporary astronomic study written by a Bulgarian and printed abroad (in Toulouse). In 1920 and in 1926 he was named Docent in astronomy at Sofia University, but refused to accept the post due to his workload at the Ministry of Finance. All his life, Nikola Stoyanov remained active in helping advance the cause of Macedonian Bulgarians. He participated in the activities of the Dojran Brotherhood in Sofia and was named Secretary of the Union of Macedonian Brotherhood's Executive Committee in 1918 when the organisation was founded.
In the banking sector
In 1908, Nikola Stoyanov headed the newly established Department for the Study of Finance at the Bulgarian National Bank. He spent the next couple of months reading various publications in the fields of economics, finance and statistics, including the works of scholars such as Vilfredo Pareto and Clément Juglar. Stoyanov's interests lay within problems such as Bulgaria’s balance of trade cycle, the interest rates on external loans, and the losses of the Bulgarian State Railways. In 1910, he published his first economic article in the journal of the Bulgarian Economic Society. The study was dedicated to the country's external debt. In 1911, Stoyanov went on a journey to Germany in order to make himself familiar with agriculture insurance. Following his return to Bulgaria, he prepared a report that became the basis for the Act on the Insurance of Agriculture Crops against Hail and of Cattle against Death and Accidents. Subsequently, he joined the Bulgarian Central Cooperative Bank's first managing council. Stoyanov published numerous works on insurance during the following years. As he had already gained considerable professional prestige, in 1919 was considered for the position of director of the bank. Eventually he was not awarded the position, though a while later he headed the State Debt Department with the Ministry of Finance.
State Guaranteed Debts Director
War reparation negotiations
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