Krastyo Hadzhipetrov Asenov, nicknamed Mechkata (the Bear), Ogneniot daskal (the Fiery Teacher) and Cherkeza (the Circassian), 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 Macedon ...

n revolutionary figure active in the region of Macedonia, one of the voyvodas of the

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

(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 Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...

. 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 Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" at the University of Sofia, ( bg, Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, ''Sofijski universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“'') is the oldest higher education i ...

. 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 Georgi Nikolov Delchev (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian/Macedonian language, Macedonian: Георги/Ѓорѓи Николов Делчев; 4 February 1872 – 4 May 1903), known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev (''Гоце Делчев ...

, 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 Leshko is a mountainous village in Blagoevgrad Municipality, in Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria. It is situated in the foothills of Vlahina mountain. References

Villages in Blagoevgrad Province {{Blagoevgrad-geo-stub ...

, 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 A sabkha ( ar, سبخة) is a coastal, Supralittoral zone, supratidal mudflat or sandflat in which evaporite-saline minerals accumulate as the result of semiarid to arid climate. Sabkhas are gradational between land and Intertidal zone, interti ...

, 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 Bul ...

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 Kilkis ( el, Κιλκίς) is a city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2011 there were 22,914 people living in the city proper, 28,745 people living in the municipal unit, and 51,926 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city o ...

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 Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος). It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Monteneg ...

, 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