Nikola Lazarov

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Nikola Ivanov Lazarov (Bulgarian: Никола Иванов Лазаров) (1 April 1870 – 14 June 1942) was a Bulgarian architect. He was born in Karlovo, then part of the Ottoman Empire. His father, who sold rose oil and braided wool, was killed during the wars that led to Bulgaria’s liberation, and Lazarov grew up an orphan. He moved to Sofia and worked as a draftsman for public buildings.

Lazarov won a Bulgarian state scholarship to study in Paris at the École Spéciale d'Architecture. He stayed two years, then returned to Bulgaria for money, but later received another scholarship from the Bulgarian prince and went back to Paris. He graduated in 1893, writing his thesis on the main church of the Rila Monastery.

Back in Sofia, he had to work three years as a royal architect. He helped build the northeast wing of the Sofia Royal Palace, finished the interiors of the Euxinograd palace in Varna, and designed the Central Military Club in Sofia.

In 1896 he started the first private architectural firm in Bulgaria. In 1902 he became the first architect elected to the National Assembly, representing Karlovo. He attended the 8th International Congress of Architects in Vienna in 1908 with Yordan Milanov. He worked as an architect until 1934. From 1937 to 1941 he led the Capital Municipal Council and supported Adolf Mussmann’s 1938 city plan.