On December 30, 1852, in Bolgrad, Bessarabia, the distinguished Bulgarian officer Danail Nikolaev was born.
He was the first infantry general in the Bulgarian army, known as the “Patriarch of the Bulgarian Army“.
He graduated from the Odessa Infantry Cadet School and served in the Russian army. In 1885, as a major and commander of the militia in Plovdiv, he was among the key figures in the proclamation of the Unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia.
In the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885 he commanded the Western Corps and played a decisive role in the battles of Slivnitsa and Pirot.
He twice held the post of Minister of War (1886-1887 and 1907-1911). During his term, the Independence of Bulgaria was declared (1908).
On May 18, 1909, he became the first Bulgarian officer to be promoted to the highest rank of “General of the Infantry“.
He is the only person in Bulgarian history who personally knew and served under all the rulers of the Third Bulgarian Empire — Alexander I Battenberg, Ferdinand I and Boris III.