Krastyo Hadzhipetrov Asenov, nicknamed Mechkata (the Bear), Ogneniot daskal (the Fiery Teacher) and Cherkeza (the Circassian), was a Bulgarian revolutionary figure active in the region of

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

, one of the voyvodas of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) for the Enidzhe Vardar region. He took part in the liberation struggles of the Macedonians at the beginning of the 20th century.

Biography

Krastyo Asenov was born in 1877 in Sliven. He was a nephew of the famous

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

voyvoda

Hadzhi Dimitar Dimitar Nikolov Asenov ( bg, Димитър Николов Асенов ; 10 May 1840 – 10 August 1868), better known as Hadzhi Dimitar ( ), was one of the most prominent Bulgarian voivode and revolutionaries working for the Liberation of Bulg ...

and a brother of the IMARO revolutionary Yordan Asenov. He graduated from the Bulgarian Men's High School of

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

and later from the Sofia University. Afterwards Asenov worked as a

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 ...

teacher in Macedonia. Under the influence of Gotse Delchev, he joined the IMARO and the struggle for the liberation of Macedonia and Odrin from the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

yoke. When he was a teacher in the village of Leshko, Asenov met

Yane Sandanski Yane Ivanov Sandanski (, ) (originally spelled in older Bulgarian orthography ) (18 May 1872 – 22 April 1915), was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary.Per Julian Allan Brooks' thesis the term ‘Macedo-Bulgarian’ refers to the Exarchist po ...

. He was one of the organizers and took an active role in the

Miss Stone Affair The Miss Stone Affair ( bg, Афера „Мис Стоун“, mk, „Афера Мис Стон“) was the kidnapping of American Protestant missionary Ellen Maria Stone and her pregnant Bulgarian fellow missionary and friend Katerina Cilk ...

. In 1902, his sister, Doctor Sabka Asenova, preserved a part of the ransom collected from the Miss Stone Affair. Asenov's cousins,

Dimitar Asenov Dimitar Nikolov Asenov ( bg, Димитър Николов Асенов ; 10 May 1840 – 10 August 1868), better known as Hadzhi Dimitar ( ), was one of the most prominent Bulgarian voivode and revolutionaries working for the Liberation of Bulg ...

and

Ivan Asenov Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

were freedom fighters in the revolutionary band of the voyvoda

Toma Davidov Toma Kostov Davidov (2 May 1863 - 15 March 1903) was a Bulgarian Army officer and participant in the Macedonian Revolutionary Movement, a vojvode of the Macedonian Supreme Committee, later becoming a commander in the Internal Macedonian Revolution ...

. During 1902, Asenov's revolutionary activity was concentrated on the right coast of the

Struma River The Struma or Strymónas ( bg, Струма ; el, Στρυμόνας ; tr, (Struma) Karasu , 'black water') is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its ancient name was Strymṓn (Greek: Στρυμών ). Its drainage area is , of which in Bulgaria, ...

. During the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising he was a voyvoda of the Kilkis cheta and fought against the Ottomans in the area of the Paiak Mountain. In the village of Kornishor, there was a merger between the Kilkis band of Krastyo Asenov, and the Enizhe-Vardar bands of

Apostol Petkov Apostol Petkov Terziev (Bulgarian/ mk, Апостол Петков Терзиев) (May 6, 1869 – August 2, 1911) was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary and one of the leaders of the national liberation movement in Ottoman Macedonia. He was a ...

and Ivan Karasuliyata. Here the flag of the uprising was sanctified before 250 Macedonian freedom fighters.Благой Петров, "Наранената земя", Алкор,1995 г.,Бургас On 6 June he fought a battle against Turkish soldiers near the Ardzhan Lake, in which Milan Delchev was killed. On 16 June Asenov fought a battle near the village of Postol. Despite the rumour amongst his fellows, that it would be a bad sign, on 25 July, when the Uprising was still ongoing, he married Ana Maleshevska, the daughter of the voyvoda Nikola Maleshevski, in the village of Kornishor (today known as Kromni), in the Enidzhe-Vardar region. However, he was killed only several days after the wedding by his superstitious comrades, dissatisfied with his decision to marry. Later, they were sentenced to death by the IMARO revolutionary-court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asenov, Krastyo 1877 births 1903 deaths People from Sliven Members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization Bulgarian revolutionaries Bulgarian educators