Nikola Koev Nikolov ( bg, Никола Коев Николов; 20 March 1880 – 30 July 1961), known as Mamin Kolyu (Мамин Колю, "Mummy's Kolyu", ''Kolyu'' being a diminutive of Nikola) 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 of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) who fought for the liberation of Macedonia and

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 t ...

from Ottoman rule. Mamin Kolyu was born on 20 March 1880 in

Haskovo Haskovo ( bg, Хасково ) is a city in the region of Northern Thrace in southern Bulgaria and the administrative centre of the Haskovo Province, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. According to Operative Program Regional Develo ...

(then part of

Eastern Rumelia Eastern Rumelia ( bg, Източна Румелия, Iztochna Rumeliya; ota, , Rumeli-i Şarkî; el, Ανατολική Ρωμυλία, Anatoliki Romylia) was an autonomous province (''oblast'' in Bulgarian, ''vilayet'' in Turkish) in the Otto ...

) as revolutionary

Tane Nikolov Tane Nikolov ( bg, Тане Николов) (9 March 1873 – 19 January 1947) was a Bulgarian revolutionary and member of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia, Thrace and Pomoravlje. He was among the leading members of the Secret Macedonian ...

's older brother's son. After finishing

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, he enlisted in the 10th Rhodopean Infantry Regiment of the

Bulgarian Army The Bulgarian Land Forces ( bg, Сухопътни войски на България, Sukhopŭtni voĭski na Bŭlgariya, lit=Ground Forces of Bulgaria) are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The Land Forces were established ...

and served from January 1901 to November 1902. He joined the ranks of IMARO as a soldier and after his discharge went for

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 ha ...

to become a member of a detachment (''cheta'') and fight in Macedonia. In 1903, he entered Macedonia under the command of

Ivan Naumov Alyabaka Ivan Naumov ( bg, Иван Наумов), nicknamed Alyabaka or Alyabako was a Bulgarian revolutionary, a member of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO). Biography Ivan Naumov was born in the village of Oraovec, ...

. During the

Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising, or simply the Ilinden Uprising of August–October 1903 ( bg, Илинденско-Преображенско въстание, Ilindensko-Preobrazhensko vastanie; mk, Илинденско востание, ...

of 1903, he set the Ottoman

gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

's barracks in

Kruševo Kruševo ( mk, Крушево ; rup, Crushuva "Crușuva") is a town in North Macedonia. In Macedonian the name means the 'place of pear trees'. It is the highest town in North Macedonia and one of the highest in the Balkans, situated at an alti ...

on fire together with

Kosta Hristov Popeto Kosta may refer to: * Kosta, Estonia, a village in Vihula Parish, Lääne-Viru County, Estonia * Kosta, Greece a community in Greece * Kosta, Sweden, a village in Sweden * Coastal Andhra, region in India * Kosta Glasbruk, a glassworks in Sweden ...

. As the uprising was crushed, he returned to Bulgaria. In 1904, he assaulted the Turkish

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

's carriage in Sofia together with Alyabaka, injuring the consul's

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

and forcing the Bulgarian government to sentence them. Six months later, they were quietly released without

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

and told to stay out of the government's way. Upon his release he immediately headed to Macedonia and served as a revolutionary under Kosta Popeto, Ivan Naumov,

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 Ichko Gyupchev. During the unrest at the time he joined

Hristo Chernopeev Hristo Chernopeev ( bg, Христо Чернопеев) (1868, Dermantsi – 6 November 1915, Krivolak) was a Bulgarian Army officer and member of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia. He was among the leaders of the Bulgarian People's Macedo ...

's band to dethrone and capture Sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...

from

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

and take him to

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. From 1912 on, Mamin Kolyu was an under-

voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

and flag bearer in his uncle Tane Nikolov's band and took part 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 defe ...

, becoming an independent voivode. In the winter of 1912 and the spring of 1913, he participated in the

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 ...

christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

mission in the Rhodopes. After the liberation of

Western Thrace Western Thrace or West Thrace ( el, �υτικήΘράκη, '' ytikíThráki'' ; tr, Batı Trakya; bg, Западна/Беломорска Тракия, ''Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya''), also known as Greek Thrace, is a Geography, geograp ...

(which was ceded to Bulgaria per the Treaty of Bucharest), Mamin Kolyu married in a village near Gyumyurdzhina (today

Komotini Komotini ( el, Κομοτηνή, tr, Gümülcine, bg, Комотини) is a city in the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope-Evros super-pr ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

). From 1914 to 1919 he lived in Bulgarian Ksanti (today

Xanthi Xanthi ( el, Ξάνθη, ''Xánthi'', ) is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi (regional unit), Xanthi regional unit of the modern regions of Greece, region of East Macedonia and Thrace. A ...

, Greece) and Komotini and was a policeman for some time. In 1920–1924, when the region was already part of Greece, he collaborated with the

Internal Thracian Revolutionary Organisation The Internal Thracian Revolutionary Organisation (Bulgarian: Вътрешна тракийска революционна организация, ''Vatreshna trakiyska revolutsionna organizatsiya'', ITRO) was a Bulgarian revolutionary organisation ...

in Haskovo and Western Thrace. In 1924, Mamin Kolyu withdrew from his revolutionary activities and worked as a miller in

Asenovgrad Asenovgrad ( bg, Асеновград ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, a town in central southern Bulgaria, part of Plovdiv Province. It is the largest town in Bulgaria that is not a province center. Previously known as ''Stanimaka'' ( ...

with Tane Nikolov until 1945. From 1949 until his death on 30 July 1961, he lived in Haskovo. A vivid personality, Mamin Kolyu became a favourite of the population of Macedonia and

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

s about him have been sung from Gora in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

to the west
song from Gora
to

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

to the east
song from Dobruja
.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mamin Kolyu 1880 births 1961 deaths People from Haskovo Members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization Bulgarian revolutionaries Bulgarian military personnel of the Balkan Wars Thracian Bulgarians Bulgarian nationalists