Alexander Protogerov Certificat from Grand Lodge of Bulgaria

Alexandar Protogerov ( Bulgarian: Александър Протогеров) (28 February 1867,

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

– 7 July 1928,

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

) was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n general, politician and revolutionary, as well as a member of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia,

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

and Pomoravlje. Protogerov was a Bulgarian

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and held a leading position (Grand Master) in the lodge where he was a member. In

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Protogerov, who had been dismissed as

Greater Bulgaria Bulgarian irredentism is a term to identify the territory associated with a historical national state and a modern Bulgarian irredentist nationalist movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, which would include most of Macedonia, Thrace an ...

chauvinist Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotism ...

by the

Macedonian historiography Historiography in North Macedonia is the methodology of historical studies used by the historians of that country. It has been developed since 1945 when SR Macedonia became part of Yugoslavia. According to the German historian it has preserv ...

in Communist Yugoslavia, has been recently added to the country's historical heritage, already as an

ethnic Macedonian Macedonians ( mk, Македонци, Makedonci) are a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia in Southeast Europe. They speak Macedonian, a South Slavic language. The large majority of Macedonians identi ...

Biography

Protogerov was born in 1867 in Ohrid, then in the Ottoman Empire. Later he graduated there with his primary education in the local

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate ( bg, Българска екзархия, Balgarska ekzarhiya; tr, Bulgar Eksarhlığı) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and th ...

school. On 5 October 1882 he entered the Military School in

and as a cadet was a volunteer in the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885). In 1887 he graduated from the Military School and was assigned to the infantry. On 18 May 1890 he was already a lieutenant. On 2 August 1894 he became a captain and served as an adjutant in the 1st Brigade of the 5th Danube Infantry Division. He served in

Rousse Ruse (also transliterated as Rousse, Russe; bg, Русе ) is the fifth largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, approximately south of ...

, where he was the leader of the ''Bulgarian Officer Brotherhoods''. Later he served as a company commander of the 32nd Zagore Infantry Regiment. He was among the leaders of the

Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC), ( bg, Върховен македоно - одрински комитет, (ВМОК)), also known as Supreme Macedonian Committee was a Bulgarian paramilitary and political organization, active ...

. Protogerov took part in the

Gorna Dzhumaya uprising The Gorna Dzhumaya Uprising was an anti-Ottoman rebellion that broke out and spread throughout the Pirin region of Ottoman Macedonia in 1902. The uprising broke out on September 23, along the middle reaches of the Struma River in modern-day Bu ...

in 1902 and in the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising. Later joined the

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

. In the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...

, Protogerov was one of the organizers of the

Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps The Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps ( bg, Македоно-одринско опълчение, ''Makedono-odrinsko opalchenie'') was a volunteer corps of the Bulgarian Army during the Balkan Wars. It was formed on 23 September 1912 ...

and Assistant Commander of this military unit. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he commanded the Third Infantry Brigade of the

11th Macedonian Infantry Division The 11th Macedonian Infantry Division was a Bulgarian military unit formed by Macedonian Bulgarians that operated in the First World War. The division is the successor of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps. History The division was e ...

and then became commander of the Bulgarian troops in the Pomoravlje region of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

. There he suppressed the

Toplica Uprising The Toplica Uprising ( sr, Топлички устанак) was a mass uprising against Bulgarian occupation force, that took place in Bulgarian occupied Serbia during the First World War. The rebels were motivated by grievances against the Bu ...

, commanding an army that committed a large number of war crimes, including cruel murders of thousands of women, children and the elderly. Later, as commandant of

, Protogerov suppressed the Bulgarian soldier's uprising. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Protogerov was elected as one of the leaders of IMRO. In 1924, IMRO entered negotiations with the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

about collaboration between the communists and the Macedonian movement and the creation of a united Macedonian movement. Protogerov and

Petar Chaulev Petar Chaulev ( bg, Петър Чаулев; 1882 – December 23, 1924) was a Bulgarian revolutionary in Ottoman Macedonia. He was a local Bulgarian leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). Born into an Orthodox ...

probably signed the so-called ''

May Manifesto The "May Manifesto" of May 6, 1924 was a paper in which the objectives of the unified Macedonian liberation movement were presented: independence and unification of partitioned region of Macedonia, fighting all the neighbouring Balkan monarchies, su ...

'' about forming a

Balkan Communist Federation The Balkan Federation project was a left-wing political movement to create a country in the Balkans by combining Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century from ...

and cooperation with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Later, Protogerov denied through the Bulgarian press that they had ever signed any agreements, claiming that the May Manifesto was a communist forgery. Shortly after,

Todor Alexandrov Todor Aleksandrov Poporushov, best known as Todor Alexandrov ( Bulgarian/ Macedonian: Тодор Александров), also spelt as Alexandroff (4 March 1881 – 31 August 1924), was a Bulgarian revolutionary, army officer, politician and t ...

was assassinated in unclear circumstances and IMRO came under the leadership of Ivan Mihailov, who became a powerful figure in Bulgarian politics. In 1925 Protogerov was injured in result of the organized by the communists

St Nedelya Church assault The St Nedelya Church assault was a terrorist attack on St Nedelya Church in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was carried out on 16 April 1925, when a group of the Military Organisation of the Bulgarian Communist Party directed and supplied by the Soviet M ...

. In IMRO itself, a major split arose between Mihailov's wing, supported by

Andrey Lyapchev Andrey Tasev Lyapchev (Tarpov) ( bg, Андрей Тасев Ляпчев (Tърпов)) (30 November 1866 – 6 November 1933) was a Bulgarian Prime Minister in three consecutive governments. Early years Lyapchev was born in the Macedonian c ...

, and Protogerov's wing, supported by

Aleksandar Tsankov Aleksandar Tsolov Tsankov ( bg, Александър Цолов Цанков; June 29, 1879 – July 27, 1959) was a leading Bulgarian politician during the interwar period between the two world wars. Biography A professor of political econom ...

. The faction led by Protogerov opted for continuing with the tactics of guerrilla warfare, while this led by Mihailov insisted on individual terrorist attacks. The result of this split and communists conspiracies was further strife within the organisation and several high-profile murders, including that of Protogetov himself.Dimitar Bechev, Historical Dictionary of North Macedonia; Historical Dictionaries of Europe, Edition 2, Rowman & Littlefield, 2019; , p. 246.

Military Awards

* Soldier's Cross of Bravery III grade, Bulgaria * Military Order of Bravery III grade, Bulgaria * Royal Order of St. Alexander III grade with swords in the middle, Bulgaria * People's Order of Military Merit III grade on military ribbon, Bulgaria

References

Sources

* Вазов, В., ''Животописни бележки'', София, 1992, Военноиздателски комплекс „Св. Георги Победоносец“, , с.123

Biography

Military Awards

References

Sources

See also