Georgi Pirinski Sr. and the American Slav Congress

Abstract

Georgi Pirinski Jr. is a prominent Bulgarian politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the National Assembly. This article regards his father, Georgi Pirinski Sr., who was the Executive Secretary of the American Slav Congress (1944–1951) and Chairman of the Bulgarian Committee for Peace (1969–1972). An emigre from Bulgaria, he took a pseudonym in memory of his native land – the Pirin Macedonia. Rather soon, Pirinski became a prominent trade union leader. His influence on the situation in the world was the greatest, when he was actually the leader of the largest all-Slavic organization in America – the American Slav Congress (the ASC). As an executive secretary of the ASC, Pirinski Sr. determined the American and foreign policy of the organization; in particular, he spoke on behalf of the ASC from the rostrum of the US Congress. Being an illegal member of the Communist Party of the USA, he pursued a pro-Soviet policy inside the ASC which contributed to the schism and abolishment of the ASC; he himself after several arrests had to return to Bulgaria. At the end of his life he felt regret for his fanaticism. Looking at the career of his son, one would say that Georgi Pirinski Jr. learnt from his father’s mistakes and became so successful as a politician that he had to be stopped by semi-legal means.