Dimitrie Macedonski ( 1780 or 1782–1843) was a
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...
n
Pandur captain and revolutionary leader.
Life
Dimitrie was born in
Ottoman 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 ...
, as the son of Stoyan Mincho (Stogiannis Mintsos), a local chieftain. After the Russo-Turkish wars in the late 18th century the family of Mincho emigrated beyond the
Danube
The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
. Dimitrie joined the Russian army and became a military officer. He adopted the surname "Macedonski", which referred to his home place. According to the Romanian historian
Radu Florescu
Radu Florescu (23 October 1925 – 18 May 2014) was a Romanian academic who held the position of Emeritus Professor of History at Boston College. His work on Vlad Dracula includes a series of bestselling books that he co-authored with his colle ...
Dimitrie was of
Bulgarian origin. Per Romanian historian Constantin Velichi he acted as a Bulgarian in the period 1806-1821, but after 1840 he was already
Romanianized.
[Mişcarea naţională românească şi luptele de eliberare ale emigraţiei bulgare (1750 - 1870), in Сборник в памет на професор Александър Бурмов, 1973, Издателство Наука и изкуство, София, стр. 235.]
Macedonski volunteered in the
Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812). Afterwards, he was awarded for his bravery and gained the rank of lieutenant.
Later he held different administrative positions in Wallachia and Moldavia.
Taking part in the
Wallachian uprising of 1821
The uprising of 1821 was a social and political rebellion in Wallachia, which was at the time a Vassal and tributary states of the Ottoman Empire, tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. It originated as a movement against the Phanariotes, Phana ...
, alongside fellow Serbian commander
Hadži-Prodan,
he was appointed
Tudor Vladimirescu's lieutenant by
boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...
allies of the revolutionaries, on January 15. Sympathetic to the
Philikí Etaireía and suspicious of Vladimirescu's level of commitment to the cause, Macedonski, together with
Giorgakis Olympios and
Iannis Pharmakis, deposed and arrested the rebel leader.
Macedonski was also involved in revolutionary agitation in 1840 Wallachia as a member of a
radical conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...
led by
Mitică Filipescu and
Nicolae Bălcescu.
On April 9, 1841, he was sentenced to eight years in prison, and held at the
Snagov Monastery, where he fell ill with
dropsy. In early 1843 he was transferred to the Plumbuita Monastery near
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
for medical care, but he died on January 10.
He was the grandfather of
Romanian poet
Alexandru Macedonski.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macedonski, Dimitrie
1780s births
1843 deaths
Soldiers in Tudor Vladimirescu's army
Slavic speakers of Ottoman Macedonia
19th-century people from the Principality of Wallachia