Metody Patchev (; ; May 7, 1875 – April 7, 1902) was a Bulgarian teacher and revolutionary, voivode of the

Internal Macedonian 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 ...

Life

Patchev was born in

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

(today

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

) in 1875. As a young man he moved to

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

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 ...

to apply for work in a leather production company. When he arrived back to Ohrid, he became 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 1896. Patchev joined a secret society commonly known as

(IMRO). On August 5, 1898, Dimitar Grdanov, a Serbian teacher in Ohrid, and pro-Serbian activist in Macedonia, was murdered by him, after which he and his fellow conspirators

Hristo Uzunov Hristo Dimitrov Uzunov (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian/; 22 February 1878 – 24 April 1905) was a Macedonian Bulgarians, Macedonian Bulgarian teacher and revolutionary, head of the Ohrid branch of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organizat ...

Cyril Parlichev Kiril Parlichev (, ; 1 March 1875 – 9 February 1944) was a Macedonian BulgarianMakedonskoto osvoboditelno dvizhenie sled Pŭrvata svetovna voĭna, 1918-1924, Kostadin Paleshutski, Published by Izd-vo na Bŭlgarskata akademia na naukite, 1993, p ...

and

Ivan Grupchev Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was the Bul ...

were arrested. He stayed in Ottoman prison until 1901. After his release he applied as a teacher in the town of

Prilep Prilep ( ) is the List of cities in North Macedonia, fourth-largest city in North Macedonia. According to 2021 census, it had a population of 63,308. Name The name of Prilep appeared first as ''Πρίλαπος'' in Greek (''Prilapos'') in 1 ...

, but was unsuccessful due to his times in prison previously. Later rejoining IMRO, he became involved in a cheta group under the command of Marko Lerinski. On April 7, 1902, he entered the village of Kadino Selo with six other revolutionaries unaware of the situation in Kadino Selo he went into an ambush. The Ottoman troops within the village, were under attack from a small group of revolutionaries. After fierce fighting in the village and surroundings, Patchev killed his friends and committed suicide. After his death, his unoccupied house was used as a secret hospital. Local female teachers including Kostadina Bojadjeva helped wounded fighters at the building. The Ottomans discovered the hospital but could find no charges against the teachers. They were held, interrogated, beaten and released. The hospital continued to operate and the local mayor arranged for free milk to assist them. In 1904 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, a group of Bulgarian immigrants established the Macedonian-Adrianople Charitable Society "Metody Patchev". To the death of Patchev and his comrades,

Hristo Silyanov Hristo Silyanov (1880 in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire – 1939 in Sofia, Bulgaria) () was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian revolutionary,

dedicated his poem "Kadino Village Heroes", published in 1904 in Bulgarian.Хр. Силянов, Писма и изповеди на един четник, 1902 г. Бележки на Михаил Неделчев, стр. 602.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patchev, Metody 1875 births 1902 deaths People from Ohrid Members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization 19th-century Bulgarian people Bulgarian revolutionaries Bulgarian educators Macedonian Bulgarians Bulgarian assassins Bulgarian people imprisoned in the Ottoman Empire 20th-century murderers 1902 suicides