Nikola Kirov (Никола Киров; 28 June 1880 – 2 August 1962) was a

Macedonian Bulgarian Macedonians or Macedonian Bulgarians (), sometimes also referred to as Macedono-Bulgarians, Macedo-Bulgarians, or Bulgaro-Macedonians are a regional, ethnographic group of ethnic Bulgarians, inhabiting or originating from the region of Ma ...

teacher, revolutionary and public figure, a member of

IMRO 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 init ...

Biography

Nikola Kirov was born on 28 June 1880 in Kırşova, in the

Manastir Vilayet The Vilayet of Manastir () was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, created in 1874, dissolved in 1877 and re-established in 1879. The vilayet was occupied during the First Balkan War in 1912 and divided between t ...

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 ...

(present-day

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 ...

). He completed basic education in his hometown, but then studied at the Bulgarian Men's High School in Bitola, from where he was expelled in 1898. He moved later to Thessaloniki and in 1902 graduated the

Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki The Sts. Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki (, ''Solunska balgarska mazhka gimnazia „Sv. sv. Kiril i Metodiy“'') was the first Bulgarian language, Bulgarian high school in Macedonia (region), Macedonia. One of th ...

. In the high school he joined the IMRO. During the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising, Nikola Kirov was in

Kruševo Kruševo ( ; "Crușuva") is a town in North Macedonia. In Macedonian language, Macedonian the name means the 'place of pear trees'. It is the highest town in North Macedonia and one of the highest in the Balkans, situated at an altitude of over ...

and participated in the declaration and defense of the

Kruševo Republic The Kruševo Republic ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: Крушевска Република, ''Kruševska Republika''; ) was a short-lived political entity proclaimed in 1903 by rebels from the Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organizat ...

, and after the uprising was the head of the Kruševo Revolutionary Committee. He became

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 Embore and later in

Debar Debar ( ; , sq-definite, Dibra or Dibra e Madhe) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has an ethnic Albanian majorit ...

and in 1911-1912 he was the director of the Bulgarian school in Resen. After the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

he emigrated with his whole family to Bulgaria and graduated from

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 ...

. He participated in the activities of the

Macedonian Federative Organization The Macedonian Federative Organization ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: Македонска федеративна организация/организација; MFO/МФО) was established in Sofia in 1921 by former Internal Macedonian Revolutiona ...

and of the Ilinden (Organization). In 1923 he published the novel "Ilinden", in which he attributed to

Nikola Karev Nikola Yanakiev Karev (; ; November 23, 1877 – April 27, 1905) was a Macedonian Bulgarians, Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary. He was born in Kruševo and died in the village of Rajčani both today in North Macedonia. Karev was a local leader ...

the creation of the Kruševo Manifesto. It was one of the first literary works that were published in his native

Prilep-Bitola dialect The Prilep-Bitola dialect (, ''Prilepsko-bitolski dijalekt'') is a member of the central subgroup of the western group of dialects of Macedonian. This dialect is spoken in much of the Pelagonia region (more specifically, the Bitola, Prilep, Kr ...

, even before there was a standardized

Macedonian language Macedonian ( ; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch. Sp ...

. He is the author of the works "Looking to Macedonia", "Krushevo and his struggles for freedom" (1935), "The Krushevo Epic", "Light to Darkness" and others. He also appeared as a playwright and poet. Kirov regularly published materials in the magazine "Ilinden". Kirov's writings, which are among the most known primary sources on the rebellion, mention Bulgarians, Vlachs and

sic The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; ''thus'', ''so'', and ''in this manner'') inserted after a quotation indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated as found in the source text, including erroneous, archaic, or unusual spelling ...

Grecomans Grecomans or Graecomans (; ; ; ; ; ) is a pejorative term used in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Romania, and Albania to characterize Albanian-speaking, Aromanian-speaking, and Slavic-speaking people who self-identify as ethnic Greeks. In the region ...

, who participated in the events in Kruševo. He died in 1962 in

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 ...

.Николов, Борис. ВМОРО - псевдоними и шифри 1893-1934, Звезди, 1999, стр. 72-73.

References

External links

*
"Македония и България. (Сказка държана в театър "Одеон")"
публикувано във в-к "Воля", бр. 655–661, София, 1915 г.
Никола Киров-Майски от Крушево, Вардарска Македония - "Илинден - Драма в пет действия; Картини из великото македонско възстание през 1903 год."
София, 1923 година
Никола Киров-Майски от Крушево, Вардарска Македония - "Светлосенки; разкази и скици"
Видин, 1942 година {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirov, Nikola 1880 births 1962 deaths People from Kruševo People from Manastir vilayet Members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization Bulgarian educators Ottoman Kruševo Bulgarian revolutionaries Macedonian Bulgarians