Todor Aleksandrov
Encyclopedia
Todor Aleksandrov Poporushov also transliterated as Todor Alexandrov (Bulgarian
:Тодор Александров) also spelt Alexandroff, (March 4, 1881 - August 31, 1924) was a Bulgarian freedom fighter and member of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees (BMARC) since 1897 and later of the Central Committee of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (VMRO) (Bulgarian
: Вътрешна македонска революционна организация (ВМРО).
suburb of Štip
, present day Republic of Macedonia, to Aleksandar Poporushev and Marija Aleksandrova. In 1898, he finished the Bulgarian Pedagogical School in Skopje
and became a Bulgarian teacher consecutively in the towns of Kocani
, Kratovo, the village of Vinica
, and Štip. He also attended the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki
.
In 1903 Todor Aleksandrov distinguished himself as an extraordinary leader and organizer of the Kocani Revolutionary District. He was arrested by the Ottoman
authorities on March 3, 1903 and sent to Skopje
under enforced police escort during the same night. He was sentenced to five years of solitary confinement by the extraordinary court there. In April 1904, he was released after an amnesty. Soon afterwards, he was appointed a head teacher in the Second high-school in Shtip. Aleksandrov, in co-operation with Todor Lazarov and Mishe Razvigorov, worked day and night to organize the Shtip Revolutionary District. The results of his activities were detected by the Ottoman authorities and in November 1904 he was forbidden to teach. On January 10, 1905 Aleksandrov's house was surrounded by a numerous troops but he succeeded in breaking through the military cordoned and immediately joined the cheta (band) of Mishe Razvigorov where he became its secretary. Aleksandrov attended the First Congress of the Skopje Revolutionary Region as a delegate from the Shtip district.
His deteriorating health lead him to become a teacher in Bulgaria — the Black Sea
town of Burgas
in 1906, but after learning about the death of Mishe Razvigorov, he abandoned his work as a teacher and returned to Macedonia
at once. In November 1907, Aleksandrov was elected as a district vojvoda (commander) by the Third Congress of the Skopje Revolutionary District.
On August 2, 1909 the Ottomans made another attempt to arrest him but failed again. In the spring of 1910 he and his cheta traversed the Skopje region and organized the revolutionary activities. At the beginning of 1911, Todor Aleksandrov became a member of the Central Committee of the IMARO. In 1912, he became a vojvoda in the Kilkis
and Thessaloniki
districts where he carried out a number of sabotages against Ottoman targets, facilitating this way the Macedonian cause in the First Balkan War
. He supported an independent Macedonian state. In 1913, he was at the head quarters of the Third brigade of the Macedonian Militia in the Bulgarian army. After 1913 he organized the IMARO resistance against other nationalities - Serbs
and Greeks
. On November 4, 1919 Aleksandrov was arrested by the government of Aleksandar Stamboliyski
but he succeeded to escape nine days later. In the spring of 1920, Aleksandrov went with a cheta to Serbian Macedonia where he restored the revolutionary organization and attracted the world's attention to the unsolved Macedonian question. At the end of 1922, there was a bounty of 250,000 denars placed on him by the Serbian authorities in Belgrade
.
In 1924 the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) entered negotiations with the Comintern
about collaboration between the communists and the creation of a united Macedonian movement. The idea for a new unified organization was supported by the Soviet Union
, which saw a chance for using this well developed revolutionary movement to spread revolution in the Balkans
and destabilize the Balkan monarchies. Alexandrov defended IMRO's independence and refused to concede on practically all points requested by the Communists. No agreement was reached besides a paper "Manifesto" (the so-called May Manifesto
of 6 May 1924), in which the objectives of the unified Macedonian liberation movement were presented: independence and unification of partitioned Macedonia, fighting all the neighbouring Balkan monarchies, forming a Balkan Communist Federation
and cooperation with the Soviet Union. Failing to secure Alexandrov's cooperation, the Comintern decided to discredit him and published the contents of the Manifesto on 28 July 1924 in the "Balkan Federation" newspaper. Todor Aleksandrov and Aleksandar Protogerov
promptly denied through the Bulgarian press that they have ever signed any agreements, claiming that the May Manifesto was a communist forgery. Shortly after, Alexandrov was assassinated in unclear circumstances, when a member in his cheta shot him on August 31, 1924 in the Pirin
Mountains. He was survived by a wife (Vangelia), son (Alexander) and daughter (Maria). Maria Aleksandrova (Koeva) was a strong proponent of her father's ideals and IMRO's charter.
into a federation
through reconstruction of Yugoslavia
into a federal state, in which Macedonia would enter as a member on equal rights with the other members. He took also into consideration the decomposition of Greece and the incorporation into the autonomous Macedonia of the Macedonian territory which was under the Greek dominion. The part of Macedonia which was in Bulgaria must also be incorporated into the autonomous Macedonia. His view does not indicate any doubt about the Bulgarian ethnic character of Macedonian Bulgarians then. The Bulgarianness of Alexandrov is recognized by several Macedonian historians like academician Ivan Katardzhiev, director of the Historical Sciences section in the Department of Social Sciences in the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts
and the director of the Macedonian State archive Ph.D.
Zoran Todorovski. Katardjiev defines all Macedonian revolutionaries from the period before 1930s as "Bulgarians" and asserts that separatism of some Macedonian revolutionaries toward official Bulgarian policy was only political phenomenon without ethnic character. Todorovski asserts that all of them declared themselves as Bulgarians, including Alexandrov.
raised a monument of the revolutionary on February 2, 2008 in the city of Veles
. After the local administration refused to provide a place for the bust it was raised in the yard of the local Bulgarian resident Dragi Karov. The following night Karov received a number of threats and eventually the monument was pushed down by unknown individuals.
It was pushed down again, immediately after being raised back. No investigation is to be held as to who is responsible for the act. Instead Karov is to be persecuted for raising a monument in his yard and for waving the Bulgarian flag
. This incident caused Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov
to call upon Republic of Macedonia to review the history of Alexandrov's deeds on his meeting with Branko Crvenkovski
in the town of Sandanski
.
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
:Тодор Александров) also spelt Alexandroff, (March 4, 1881 - August 31, 1924) was a Bulgarian freedom fighter and member of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees (BMARC) since 1897 and later of the Central Committee of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (VMRO) (Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
: Вътрешна македонска революционна организация (ВМРО).
Biography
Aleksandrov was born in the Novo SeloNovo Selo
The phrase Novo Selo means "new village" in several Slavic languages: Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, and Macedonian. Settlements in Europe known as Novo Selo include:-In Bulgaria:* Novo Selo, Kyustendil Province, Kyustendil Province...
suburb of Štip
Štip
Štip is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the Štip municipality alone had a population of about 47,796...
, present day Republic of Macedonia, to Aleksandar Poporushev and Marija Aleksandrova. In 1898, he finished the Bulgarian Pedagogical School in Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
and became a Bulgarian teacher consecutively in the towns of Kocani
Kocani
Kočani is a town away from Skopje, situated in the Eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia, with population of 28 330. The town of Kočani is the seat of Kočani Municipality.-Geography and population:...
, Kratovo, the village of Vinica
Vinica
Vinica or Vinitsa may refer to:* Vinica , a place in the Tomislavgrad land council* Vinica, Črnomelj, a village in the Municipality of Črnomelj, Slovenia* Vinica, Macedonia, a town in the Vinica Municipality of Macedonia...
, and Štip. He also attended the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki
Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki
The Sts. Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki was the first Bulgarian high school in Macedonia. One of the most influential Bulgarian educational centres in Macedonia and Southern Thrace, it was founded in autumn 1880 in Ottoman Thessaloniki and existed until...
.
In 1903 Todor Aleksandrov distinguished himself as an extraordinary leader and organizer of the Kocani Revolutionary District. He was arrested by the Ottoman
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...
authorities on March 3, 1903 and sent to Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
under enforced police escort during the same night. He was sentenced to five years of solitary confinement by the extraordinary court there. In April 1904, he was released after an amnesty. Soon afterwards, he was appointed a head teacher in the Second high-school in Shtip. Aleksandrov, in co-operation with Todor Lazarov and Mishe Razvigorov, worked day and night to organize the Shtip Revolutionary District. The results of his activities were detected by the Ottoman authorities and in November 1904 he was forbidden to teach. On January 10, 1905 Aleksandrov's house was surrounded by a numerous troops but he succeeded in breaking through the military cordoned and immediately joined the cheta (band) of Mishe Razvigorov where he became its secretary. Aleksandrov attended the First Congress of the Skopje Revolutionary Region as a delegate from the Shtip district.
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
town of Burgas
Burgas
-History:During the rule of the Ancient Romans, near Burgas, Debeltum was established as a military colony for veterans by Vespasian. In the Middle Ages, a small fortress called Pyrgos was erected where Burgas is today and was most probably used as a watchtower...
in 1906, but after learning about the death of Mishe Razvigorov, he abandoned his work as a teacher and returned to Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
at once. In November 1907, Aleksandrov was elected as a district vojvoda (commander) by the Third Congress of the Skopje Revolutionary District.
On August 2, 1909 the Ottomans made another attempt to arrest him but failed again. In the spring of 1910 he and his cheta traversed the Skopje region and organized the revolutionary activities. At the beginning of 1911, Todor Aleksandrov became a member of the Central Committee of the IMARO. In 1912, he became a vojvoda in the Kilkis
Kilkis
Kilkis is an industrial city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2001 there were 17,430 people living in the city proper, 24,812 people living in the municipal unit, and 56,336 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city of the regional unit of Kilkis.-Name:Kilkis is located in a...
and Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
districts where he carried out a number of sabotages against Ottoman targets, facilitating this way the Macedonian cause in the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
. He supported an independent Macedonian state. In 1913, he was at the head quarters of the Third brigade of the Macedonian Militia in the Bulgarian army. After 1913 he organized the IMARO resistance against other nationalities - Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
and Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
. On November 4, 1919 Aleksandrov was arrested by the government of Aleksandar Stamboliyski
Aleksandar Stamboliyski
Aleksandar Stamboliyski was the prime minister of Bulgaria from 1919 until 1923. Stamboliyski was a member of the Agrarian Union, an agrarian peasant movement which was not allied to the monarchy, and edited their newspaper...
but he succeeded to escape nine days later. In the spring of 1920, Aleksandrov went with a cheta to Serbian Macedonia where he restored the revolutionary organization and attracted the world's attention to the unsolved Macedonian question. At the end of 1922, there was a bounty of 250,000 denars placed on him by the Serbian authorities in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
.
In 1924 the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) entered negotiations with the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
about collaboration between the communists and the creation of a united Macedonian movement. The idea for a new unified organization was supported by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, which saw a chance for using this well developed revolutionary movement to spread revolution in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and destabilize the Balkan monarchies. Alexandrov defended IMRO's independence and refused to concede on practically all points requested by the Communists. No agreement was reached besides a paper "Manifesto" (the so-called May Manifesto
May Manifesto
The so-called May Manifesto of May 6, 1924 was a paper in which the objectives of the unified Macedonian liberation movement were presented: independence and unification of partitioned Macedonia, fighting all the neighbouring Balkan monarchies, supporting the Balkan Communist Federation and...
of 6 May 1924), in which the objectives of the unified Macedonian liberation movement were presented: independence and unification of partitioned Macedonia, fighting all the neighbouring Balkan monarchies, forming a Balkan Communist Federation
Balkan Communist 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...
and cooperation with the Soviet Union. Failing to secure Alexandrov's cooperation, the Comintern decided to discredit him and published the contents of the Manifesto on 28 July 1924 in the "Balkan Federation" newspaper. Todor Aleksandrov and Aleksandar Protogerov
Aleksandar Protogerov
Alexandar Protogerov was a Bulgarian general, politician and revolutionary as well as a member of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia, Thrace and Pomoravlje. He was among the leaders of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee and later joined the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary...
promptly denied through the Bulgarian press that they have ever signed any agreements, claiming that the May Manifesto was a communist forgery. Shortly after, Alexandrov was assassinated in unclear circumstances, when a member in his cheta shot him on August 31, 1924 in the Pirin
Pirin
The Pirin Mountains are a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, with Vihren the highest peak, situated at . The range extends about 40 km northwest-southeast, and about 25 km wide. Most of the range is protected in the Pirin National Park...
Mountains. He was survived by a wife (Vangelia), son (Alexander) and daughter (Maria). Maria Aleksandrova (Koeva) was a strong proponent of her father's ideals and IMRO's charter.
View about the Macedonian Question
IMRO and Alexandrov himself aimed at an autonomous Macedonia, with its capital at Salonika and prevailing Bulgarian element. He dreamed about transforming the BalkansBalkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
into a federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
through reconstruction of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
into a federal state, in which Macedonia would enter as a member on equal rights with the other members. He took also into consideration the decomposition of Greece and the incorporation into the autonomous Macedonia of the Macedonian territory which was under the Greek dominion. The part of Macedonia which was in Bulgaria must also be incorporated into the autonomous Macedonia. His view does not indicate any doubt about the Bulgarian ethnic character of Macedonian Bulgarians then. The Bulgarianness of Alexandrov is recognized by several Macedonian historians like academician Ivan Katardzhiev, director of the Historical Sciences section in the Department of Social Sciences in the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the most eminent academic institution in the Republic of Macedonia.-History:The Academy of Sciences and Arts was established by the Macedonian Assembly on 22 February 1967 as the highest scientific, scholarly and artistic institution in the country...
and the director of the Macedonian State archive Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
Zoran Todorovski. Katardjiev defines all Macedonian revolutionaries from the period before 1930s as "Bulgarians" and asserts that separatism of some Macedonian revolutionaries toward official Bulgarian policy was only political phenomenon without ethnic character. Todorovski asserts that all of them declared themselves as Bulgarians, including Alexandrov.
2008 monument controversy
Bulgarians from the Republic of MacedoniaBulgarians in the Republic of Macedonia
Bulgarians are a non-recognised ethnic minority in the Republic of Macedonia. Bulgarians are mostly found in the Strumica area, but over the years, the absolute majority of southwestern Republic of Macedonia have declared themselves Macedonian...
raised a monument of the revolutionary on February 2, 2008 in the city of Veles
Veles (city)
Veles is a city in the center of the Republic of Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality.-Name:The city's name was Vylosa in Ancient Greek and before the Balkan Wars, it was a township with the name Köprülü in the Üsküp sandjak, Ottoman empire for 600...
. After the local administration refused to provide a place for the bust it was raised in the yard of the local Bulgarian resident Dragi Karov. The following night Karov received a number of threats and eventually the monument was pushed down by unknown individuals.
It was pushed down again, immediately after being raised back. No investigation is to be held as to who is responsible for the act. Instead Karov is to be persecuted for raising a monument in his yard and for waving the Bulgarian flag
Flag of Bulgaria
The flag of Bulgaria is a tricolour consisting of three equal-sized horizontal bands of white, green, and red. The flag was first adopted after the Russo-Turkish War , where Bulgaria gained independence. The national flag at times was charged with the state emblem, especially during the People's...
. This incident caused Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov
Georgi Parvanov
Georgi Sedefchov Parvanov is a President of Bulgaria, whose second and last mandate expires on January 22, 2012; he was elected after defeating his predecessor Petar Stoyanov in the second round of the presidential elections in November 2001 and he came into office on January 22, 2002...
to call upon Republic of Macedonia to review the history of Alexandrov's deeds on his meeting with Branko Crvenkovski
Branko Crvenkovski
Branko Crvenkovski leads the Republic of Macedonia's largest opposition party, the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia. He was Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2002 to 2004, then President of the Republic of Macedonia from 2004 to 2009.Crvenkovski was...
in the town of Sandanski
Sandanski
-Municipality:Sandanski is the seat of Sandanski municipality , which includes the following 54 places:-Honour:Sandanski Point on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after the town of Sandanski....
.
See also
- Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
- History of the Republic of MacedoniaHistory of the Republic of Macedonia- Ancient period :In antiquity, most of the territory that is now the Republic of Macedonia was included in the kingdom of Paeonia, which was populated by the Paeonians, a people of Thracian origins, but also parts of ancient Illyria and Dardania, inhabited by various Illyrian peoples, and...
- History of BulgariaHistory of BulgariaThe history of Bulgaria spans from the first settlements on the lands of modern Bulgaria to its formation as a nation-state and includes the history of the Bulgarian people and their origin. The first traces of human presence on what is today Bulgaria date from 44,000 BC...