Nikola Atanasov () was a Bulgarian revolutionary and a politician from the eastern part 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 ...

Biography

Nikola Atanasov was born to a poor family in the village of Fotovishta, today known as Ognyanovo in

Garmen Garmen () is a village in Blagoevgrad Province in Bulgaria and is the seat of Garmen Municipality. It is located in southwestern Bulgaria in the Western Rhodope Mountains in the Chech region 75 kilometers southeast of Blagoevgrad and 127 kilomet ...

Municipality, then part of the

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 ...

. He won a scholarship and finished the Bulgarian Theological School in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. He returned in Macedonia and entered 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) by joining the revolutionary bands of Stoyan Filipov and

Stoyan Malchankov Stoyan () is a Bulgarian name derived from the verb ''stoya'' (''стоя'' – to stand). The variant Stoian also appears in Serbian, Romanian, and in northern Greece as Stogiannis (Greek: Στογιάννης). Given name *Stoyan Stoyanov (b. ...

. After the liberation of

Pirin Macedonia Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia () (''Pirinska Makedoniya or Bulgarska Makedoniya''), which today is in southwestern Bulgaria, is the third-biggest part of the geographical region of Macedonia. This part coincides with the borders of Blag ...

in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

in 1912, Atanasov worked in the tax administration of Nevrokop, today known as Gotse Delchev. At the same time, he continued to participate in the activities of the revolutionary organization. In April 1926, Atanasov was elected mayor of Nevrokop and remained in this position until May 1932. As mayor, he planned the public organization of the town – he created the first urbanization plan, he constructed a water-conduit and an electricity grid, he built a new secondary school. In his memoirs, Ivan Mihaylov wrote the following about Atanasov: After the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1934, and the strike against the IMARO, Atanasov was interned in

Lovech Lovech (, ) is a city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast from the capital city of Sofia. Near Lovech are the towns of ...

. After the Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944, Atanasov hid in the village of Zagrade. Surrounded by the militia, Atanasov showed resistance and was severely wounded in his backbone. Although he was in a stretcher, he was prosecuted by the so-called People's Court, a temporary Bulgarian judiciary institution, which was active in the period between December 19, 1944 and April 1945. He was killed with pick-mattocks in the garden of the Nevrokop prison.Куманов, Милен. „Македония. Кратък исторически справочник“, София, 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atanasov, Nikola 1886 births 1945 deaths People from Blagoevgrad Province Members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization Bulgarian revolutionaries Macedonian Bulgarians Mayors of places in Bulgaria Bulgarian people who died in prison custody Prisoners murdered in custody Prisoners who died in Bulgarian detention