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Mihail Gerdzhikov ( bg, Михаил Герджиков; 1877–1947) was a Bulgarian revolutionary and
He was born in Plovdiv, then in the Ottoman Empire, in 1877. He studied at the French College in Plovdiv, where he received the nickname ''Michel''. As a student in 1893 he started his revolutionary activities as the leader of a Macedonian Secret Revolutionary Committee (MSRC).
In Lausanne and Geneva he participated in the so-called ''Geneva Group''. In 1899 he returned to the Bulgarian lands and became a teacher at Bulgarian Classical High School in
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
.
Biography
He was born in Plovdiv, then in the Ottoman Empire, in 1877. He studied at the French College in Plovdiv, where he received the nickname ''Michel''. As a student in 1893 he started his revolutionary activities as the leader of a Macedonian Secret Revolutionary Committee (MSRC).
In Lausanne and Geneva he participated in the so-called ''Geneva Group''. In 1899 he returned to the Bulgarian lands and became a teacher at Bulgarian Classical High School in Bitola
Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...
and joined IMORO, where Gerdzhikov approached Gotse Delchev. In 1900 he was a delegate to the Zlatitsa Society of the ''Seventh Macedonian Congress''.
In April 1901 he was a delegate of the Borisov Society to the ''Eighth Macedonian-Edirne Congress''.
After the defeat of the Strandzha commune
The Strandzha Commune or Strandzha Republic was a short-lived anarchist commune. It was proclaimed during the Preobrazhenie Uprising in 1903 by Internal Macedonian Adrianople Revolutionary Organization rebels in Strandzha, in the Adrianople Vila ...
he dealt with the accommodation of the rebels who withdrew to Bulgaria. He published articles in the Bulgarian and foreign press, appealing to the international community for intervention in the resolution of the Eastern question in the Balkans. Together with Varban Kilifarski he also published various newspapers of their own.
At the outbreak of the Balkan War in 1912, Gerdzhikov headed the Lozengrad guerrilla unit of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps.
After the War, he renewed his contacts with the Inner Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр ...
, but no longer played an active role in it. Gerdzhikov participated in the ''Constantinople Conference of the IMRO'' in 1930 and was a member of the Central Committee as a member of the Foreign Office.Pandev, Konstantin. Foreword to: Gerdzhikov, Michael. Memories, Documents, Materials, Science and Art Publishing House, Sofia, 1984, p. 14. But after the conference he did not leave for Berlin, to participate in the Central Committee, but returned to Bulgaria in 1931.Pandev, Konstantin. Foreword to: Gerdzhikov, Michael. Memories, Documents, Materials, Science and Art Publishing House, Sofia, 1984, p. 15.
He became a journalist and translator. On the eve and during the Second World War, 1939–1945, due to his advanced age, he was mainly engaged in journalism. He has collaborated on a number of periodicals. Although some of his associates were involved in the resistance movement, Gerdzhikov remained aloof, although he maintained ties with them. Following the September 9 coup, he signed in Sofia "Appeal to the Macedonians in Bulgaria".Цочо Билярски, Ива Бурилкова, БКП, Коминтернът и македонския въпрос (1917-1946), Том 2, Главно управление на архивите, София, 1999, ISBN 9549800040, стр. 1122.
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerdzhikov, Mihail 1877 births 1947 deaths Anarcho-communists Bulgarian anarchists Bulgarian educators Bulgarian military personnel of the Balkan Wars Bulgarian military personnel of World War I Bulgarian revolutionaries Burials at Central Sofia Cemetery Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United) members Members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization Politicians from Plovdiv Thracian Bulgarians