Mihail Gerdzhikov
Encyclopedia
Mihail Gerdzhikov was born in Plovdiv, then in the Ottoman Empire, in 1877. He studied at the French College, where he received the nickname Michelle. As a student in 1893 he started his revolutionary activities as the leader of a Macedonian Secret Revolutionary Committee (MSRC). Then he studied in Switzerland (Lozana and Geneva), where he made close connections with the revolutionary immigration and founded the so called Geneve group, an extension of MSRC. Gerdzhikov was under strong anarchist influence and rejected the nationalisms of the ethnic minorities of the Ottoman Empire
, favouring alliances with ordinary Muslim people against the Sultanate and the idea about a Balkan Federation
. In 1899 he comes back to the Balkans and worked as a teacher in Bitola
. He becomes a member of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization and a close friend of Gotse Delchev
. He was the great mind that organized and led the Preobrazhenie Uprising in July 1903, a revolt against the Ottoman authorities in Thrace
, based itself amongst the Bulgarian peasants. Gerdzhikov's forces, about 2,000 strong and poorly armed, managed to establish a “Strandzha commune
”. In 1919 the Federation of Anarchist Communists of Bulgaria (FAKB) was founded at a congress opened by Gerdzhikov. In 1925 he was among the founders of IMRO (United) in Vienna.
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, favouring alliances with ordinary Muslim people against the Sultanate and the idea about a Balkan Federation
Balkan Federation
The Balkan Federation was a project about the creation of a Balkan federation or confederation, based mainly on left political ideas.The concept of a Balkan federation emerged at the late 19th century from among left political forces in the region...
. In 1899 he comes back to the Balkans and worked as a teacher in Bitola
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
. He becomes a member of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization and a close friend of Gotse Delchev
Gotse Delchev
Georgi Nikolov Delchev was an important revolutionary figure in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia and Thrace at the turn of the 20th century...
. He was the great mind that organized and led the Preobrazhenie Uprising in July 1903, a revolt against the Ottoman authorities in Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
, based itself amongst the Bulgarian peasants. Gerdzhikov's forces, about 2,000 strong and poorly armed, managed to establish a “Strandzha commune
Strandzha commune
During the Preobrazhenie Uprising in 1903 the rebels from the Internal Macedonian Adrianople Revolutionary Organization in Strandzha proclaimed a short lived Strandzha commune or Strandzha Republic....
”. In 1919 the Federation of Anarchist Communists of Bulgaria (FAKB) was founded at a congress opened by Gerdzhikov. In 1925 he was among the founders of IMRO (United) in Vienna.