Nikola Koev Nikolov (; 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, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n revolutionary of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) who fought for the liberation 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 former administr ...

and

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

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

Haskovo Haskovo ( ) 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 Development of Bulgaria ...

(then part of

Eastern Rumelia Eastern Rumelia (; ; ) was an autonomous province (''oblast'' in Bulgarian, ''vilayet'' in Turkish) of the Ottoman Empire with a total area of , which was created in 1878 by virtue of the Treaty of Berlin (1878), Treaty of Berlin and ''de facto'' ...

) as revolutionary

Tane Nikolov Tane Nikolov (; 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-Adrianople Revolutionary Org ...

's older brother's son. After finishing

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

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

Bulgarian Army The Bulgarian Army (), also called Bulgarian Armed Forces, is the military of Bulgaria. The commander-in-chief is the president of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for political leadership, while overall military command is in ...

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 is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

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

Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising (), consisting of the Ilinden Uprising (; ) and Preobrazhenie Uprising,Keith Brown (2013). Loyal Unto Death Trust and Terror in Revolutionary Macedonia. Indiana University Press. pp. 15-18. . was an organi ...

of 1903, he set the Ottoman

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or 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" (). In France and so ...

's barracks in

Kruševo Kruševo ( ; "Crușuva") is a town in North Macedonia. In Macedonian language, 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 altitude of over ...

on fire together with Kosta Hristov Popeto. 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 thro ...

'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 an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...

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

amnesty Amnesty () 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 officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

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 Language, Bulgarian/; May 6, 1869 – August 2, 1911) was a Macedonian Bulgarians, Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary and one of the leaders of the national liberation movement in Ottoman Macedonia. He was a lead ...

and Ichko Gyupchev. During the unrest at the time he joined

Hristo Chernopeev Hristo Chernopeev () (c. 1868, Dermantsi – 6 November 1915, Krivolak) was a Bulgarian Army officer and member of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia (region), Macedonia. He was among the leaders of the Bulgarian People's Macedonian-Adrianopl ...

's band to dethrone and capture Sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

from

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and take him to

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

. From 1912 on, Mamin Kolyu was an under-

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

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

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

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

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate (; ) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953. The Exarchate (a de facto autocephaly) ...

christianization Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

mission in the Rhodopes. After the liberation of

Western Thrace Western Thrace or West Thrace (, '' ytikíThráki'' ), also known as Greek Thrace or Aegean Thrace, is a geographical and historical region of Greece, between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country; East Thrace, which lie ...

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

Komotini Komotini (, , ), is a city in the Modern regions of Greece, region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece and its capital. It is also the capital of the Rhodope (regional unit), Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope- ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

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

Xanthi Xanthi is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope mountain chain, the city is divided ...

, 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 (ITRO, , , ''VTRO'') was a Bulgarian revolutionary organisation active in Western Thrace, the eastern part of Greek Macedonia (to the Struma river) and southern Bulgaria between 1920 and 1934.

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

Asenovgrad Asenovgrad ( ) is 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'' (; ), it was renamed in 1934 after the 13th-century tsar Ivan A ...

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 ca ...

s about him have been sung from Gora in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

to the west
song from Gora
to

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...

on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...

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