Krastyo Hadzhipetrov Asenov, nicknamed Mechkata (the Bear), Ogneniot daskal (the Fiery Teacher) and Cherkeza (the Circassian), 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 figure active in the region 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 ...

, one of the voyvodas of the

Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1893 in Salonica, it initia ...

(IMARO) for the Enidzhe Vardar region. He took part in the

Macedonian struggle The Macedonian Struggle was a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts that were mainly fought between Greek and Bulgarian subjects who lived in Ottoman Macedonia between 1893 and 1912. From 1904 to 1908 the conflict was p ...

at the beginning of the 20th century.

Biography

Krastyo Asenov was born in 1877 in

Sliven Sliven ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. It is situated in the Sliven Valley at the foothills of th ...

. He was a nephew of the famous Bulgarian voyvoda

Hadzhi Dimitar Dimitar Nikolov Asenov ( ; 10 May 1840 – 10 August 1868), better known as Hadzhi Dimitar ( ), was one of the most prominent Bulgarian voivode and revolutionaries working for the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. Biography Early life ...

and a brother of the IMARO revolutionary Yordan Asenov. He graduated from the Bulgarian Men's High School of

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...

and later from the

Sofia University Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria. Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...

. Afterwards Asenov worked as a

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) ...

teacher in Macedonia. Under the influence of

Gotse Delchev Georgi Nikolov Delchev (; ; 4 February 1872 – 4 May 1903), known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev (''Гоце Делчев''),Originally spelled in older Bulgarian orthography as ''Гоце Дѣлчевъ''. - Гоце Дѣлчевъ. ...

, he joined the IMARO and the struggle for the liberation of Macedonia and Odrin from the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

yoke. When he was a teacher in the village of Leshko, Asenov met

Yane Sandanski Yane Ivanov Sandanski (, ; Originally spelled in Reforms of Bulgarian orthography, older Bulgarian orthography as (Yane Ivanov Sandanski); 18 May 1872 – 22 April 1915) was a Macedonian Bulgarians, Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary and leader ...

. He was one of the organizers and took an active role in the

Miss Stone Affair The Miss Stone Affair (, ) was the kidnapping of American Protestant missionary Ellen Maria Stone and her pregnant Bulgarian fellow missionary and friend Katerina Cilka by the pro-Bulgarian Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.''O ...

. In 1902, his sister, Doctor Sabka Asenova, preserved a part of the ransom collected from the Miss Stone Affair. Asenov's cousins, Dimitar Asenov and Ivan Asenov were freedom fighters in the revolutionary band of the voyvoda

Toma Davidov Toma Kostov Davidov (2 May 1863 - 15 March 1903) was a Bulgarian Army officer and participant in the Macedonian Revolutionary Movement, a vojvode of the Macedonian Supreme Committee, later becoming a commander in the Internal Macedonian Revolutio ...

. During 1902, Asenov's revolutionary activity was concentrated on the right coast of the

Struma River The Struma or Strymonas (, ; , ) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its ancient name was Strymon (, ). Its drainage area is , of which in Bulgaria, in Greece and the remaining in North Macedonia and Serbia. It takes its source from the Vitosha ...

. During the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising he was a voyvoda of the

Kilkis Kilkis () is a city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2021 there were 24,130 people living in the city proper, 27,493 people living in the municipal unit, and 45,308 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city of the regional un ...

cheta and fought against the Ottomans in the area of the Paiak Mountain. In the village of Kornishor, there was a merger between the Kilkis band of Krastyo Asenov, and the Enizhe-Vardar bands of

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 Ivan Karasuliyata. Here the flag of the uprising was sanctified before 250 Macedonian freedom fighters.Благой Петров, "Наранената земя", Алкор, 1995 г.,Бургас On 6 June he fought a battle against Turkish soldiers near the Ardzhan Lake, in which Milan Delchev was killed. On 16 June Asenov fought a battle near the village of Postol. Despite the rumour amongst his fellows, that it would be a bad sign, on 25 July, when the Uprising was still ongoing, he married Ana Maleshevska, the daughter of the voyvoda Nikola Maleshevski, in the village of Kornishor (today known as Kromni), in the Enidzhe-Vardar region. However, he was killed only several days after the wedding by his superstitious comrades, dissatisfied with his decision to marry. Later, they were sentenced to death by the IMARO revolutionary-court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asenov, Krastyo 1877 births 1903 deaths People from Sliven Members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization Bulgarian revolutionaries Bulgarian educators