Georgi Benkovski () (c. 1843 – 12 May 1876) was the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
of Gavril Gruev Hlatev (Гаврил Груев Хлътев), 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 and leading figure in the organization and direction of the Bulgarian anti-
Ottoman April Uprising of 1876 and apostle of its 4th Revolutionary District.
Biography
Born around 1843 to the family of the small-time merchant and craftsman Gruyo Hlatev, Benkovski was a native of the bustling sub-
Balkan
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
town of
Koprivshtitsa and had two sisters, Kuna and Vasilya. Due to his difficult childhood, Benkovski had to drop out of school after finishing third grade in order to be trained as a
tailor
A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century.
History
Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...
by his mother and make a living. Discontent with his job, he became a
frieze
In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...
dealer and left for what is now modern day Turkey together with a friend to sell their products, with little success. For some ten years Benkovski lived in various cities of the old Ottoman empire, including
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 ...
(
Tsarigrad),
İzmir
İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...
(
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...
) and
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, engaging in various professions. His later stories describe his work as a
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 ...
of the
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
n
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 ...
, claiming his uniform was so beautiful people thought he was the consul himself. During his travels, Benkovski learned seven
foreign language
A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a specific country. Native speakers from that country usually need to acquire it through conscious learning, such as through language lessons at schoo ...
s to the level of basic competency:
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
,
Italian,
Polish,
Romanian and
Persian.
Benkovski became involved in the revolutionary activities of the
Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee after meeting
Stoyan Zaimov in
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 ...
,
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
; he was also introduced to
Vasil Levski
Vasil Levski (, spelled in Reforms of Bulgarian orthography, old Bulgarian orthography as , ), born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (; 18 July 1837 – 18 February 1873), was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a Folk hero, national ...
and
Hristo Botev's revolutionary and
democratic ideas. In the summer of 1875, he joined a group of revolutionaries intending to set Constantinople on fire and assassinate
sultan
Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
Abdülaziz
Abdulaziz (; ; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was 1876 Ottoman coup d'état, overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother ...
.
He was given the
French passport of a
Polish ''
émigré
An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate".
French Huguenots
Many French Hugueno ...
'', Anton Benkowski, whose
family name
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
he adopted as a pseudonym; he later changed his
first name
First most commonly refers to:
* First, the ordinal form of the number 1
First or 1st may also refer to:
Acronyms
* Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array
* Far Infrared an ...
to Georgi. The Pole was an anti-
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n revolutionary who had attempted to assassinate the Russian governor of
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
and had to serve a
life sentence
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...
on
Sakhalin
Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...
. Anton Benkowski managed to flee to
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, where he acquired a
passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...
and from where he fled to the Ottoman Empire. In
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province.
Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...
, the Pole met Zaimov and traded his
French passport for five
Turkish lira
The lira (; Currency sign, sign: Turkish lira sign, ₺; ISO 4217, ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey. It is also legal tender in the ''de facto'' state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. One lira i ...
s and the assistance to acquire an
Ottoman passport.
Benkovski was initially selected as
Panayot Volov's assistant in the organization of the 4th Revolutionary District of the April Uprising, but due to his fervour and leadership qualities Volov conceded the position of head apostle to Benkovski voluntarily. Thanks to Benkovski's work, the insurrectional preparations developed best in this district.
When the April Uprising broke out prematurely in Koprivshtitsa on , Benkovski was in nearby
Panagyurishte along with most other apostles. Upon hearing that fighting has broken out in Koprivshtitsa, Benkovski formed an over-200-strong detachment and went to assist the insurrectionists. His detachment was known as "The Flying Band" (Хвърковата чета, ''Hvarkovata cheta'') because it toured the entire region tirelessly, mobilizing many insurgents and playing an important part in the fighting. The band was even joined by six
Croats
The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...
from
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
and the
German Albrecht, all workers at the
Belovo railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
. One of the Croats, Stephen the Dalmatian, went to become the band's final
standard-bearer. One woman also joined the band: Maria Ivanova-Sutić, the Bulgarian wife of a Croatian railway worker.
In the wake of the uprising's suppression, Benkovski and the surviving members of the band (Stephen the Dalmatian,
Zahari Stoyanov and
Father
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...
Kiril) headed to the
Teteven Balkan Mountains. On , the band's location was betrayed by a local
shepherd
A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...
and the revolutionaries were
ambush
An ambush is a surprise attack carried out by people lying in wait in a concealed position. The concealed position itself or the concealed person(s) may also be called an "". Ambushes as a basic military tactics, fighting tactic of soldi ...
ed by an Ottoman search party. Benkovski was shot dead in the Kostina area near
Ribaritsa while crossing a river bridge. He was subsequently
beheaded; his head was sent to
Botevgrad and then to
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 ...
. The events were documented by Zahari Stoyanov and published in his ''Memoirs of the Bulgarian Uprisings''; the author was the only one of the four who managed to escape.
Honours
Benkovski Nunatak in
Breznik Heights on
Greenwich Island,
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...
,
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
is named for Georgi Benkovski, as are six villages in Bulgaria and a neighbourhood of Sofia (the former villages of Birimirtsi and Obradovtsi). The
Georgi Benkovski Stadium in
Pazardzhik, the
football club
In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...
FC Benkovski Byala and the
Bulgarian Air Force academy also bear his name.
Gallery
Image:Benkovski House-1.JPG, Benkovski's native house in Koprivshtitsa
Image:Benkovski-bust.JPG, Benkovski's bust at his native house in Koprivshtitsa
Image:Kostina Benkovski.jpg, Monument to Benkovski at the place of his death in Ribaritsa
Image:Georgi Benkovski bust in Sofia.jpg, Monument to Georgi Benkovski in Sofia
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benkovski, Georgi
1840s births
1876 deaths
People from Koprivshtitsa
Bulgarian revolutionaries
April Uprising of 1876
Deaths by decapitation
19th-century Bulgarian people
Rebels from the Ottoman Empire