Toma Kostov Davidov (2 May 1863 - 15 March 1903) was a Bulgarian Army officer and participant in the Macedonian Revolutionary Movement, a vojvode of the Macedonian Supreme Committee, later becoming a commander in the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. [1]
He was born in Lovech, then in the Ottoman Empire on 2 May 1863. He participated as a volunteer in the Serbo-Bulgarian War. Davidov graduated a military school in Sofia together with Gotse Delchev and Boris Sarafov. In the summer of 1895 Davidov participated in the Supreme Macedonian Committee chetas' action, which was organized by the Macedonian Supreme Committee. After this action, Davidov joined the Bulgarian Officers' Brotherhoods. At the VІ Macedonian Congress in 1899 he was elected a member of the leadership of the Supreme Macedonian Committee along with Boris Sarafov, Anton Bozukov, Slavcho Kovachev and Hristo Sarakinov. At the VІІ Macedonian Congress in Sofia in 1900 he was re-elected vice-president of the committee. Then, disappointed by the ideological contradictions between the Macedonian Bulgarian activists, in 1902 he left for Ottoman Macedonia as a vojvode of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. His cheta (fighter group) was active in the areas of Bitola, Ohrid and Demir Hisar. Once he told Gotse Delchev:
I am not from Macedonia, but for its freedom I am ready to give my life in any moment. [2]
He was killed by Turkish ambush near village Odzoleni, near Ohrid, on 15 March 1903. [3] On March 15, 2020, a commemorative plaque was erected on its frontal lobe in North Macedonia from local Macedonian Bulgarian activists. A few days later, it was destroyed by Macedonists. [4]
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Georgi Nikolov Delchev, known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev, was an important Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary (komitadji), active in the Ottoman-ruled Macedonia and Adrianople regions at the turn of the 20th century. He was the most prominent leader of what is known today as the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), a secret revolutionary society that was active in Ottoman territories in the Balkans at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Delchev was its representative in Sofia, the capital of the Principality of Bulgaria. As such, he was also a member of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC), participating in the work of its governing body. He was killed in a skirmish with an Ottoman unit on the eve of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising.
Damyan Yovanov Gruev was а Bulgarian teacher, revolutionary and insurgent leader in the Ottoman regions of Macedonia and Thrace. He was one of the six founders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.
Gyorche Petrov Nikolov born Georgi Petrov Nikolov, was a Bulgarian teacher and revolutionary, one of the leaders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). He was its representative in Sofia, the capital of Principality of Bulgaria. As such he was also a member of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC), participating in the work of its governing body. During the Balkan Wars, Petrov was a Bulgarian army volunteer, and during the First World War, he was involved in the activity of the Bulgarian occupation authorities in Serbia and Greece. Subsequently, he participated in Bulgarian politics, but was eventually killed by the rivaling IMRO right-wing faction. According to the Macedonian historiography, he was an ethnic Macedonian.
Ivan Garvanov was a Bulgarian revolutionary and leader of the revolutionary movement in Ottoman Macedonia and Southern Thrace.
The Boatmen of Thessaloniki was a Bulgarian anarchist group, active in the Ottoman Empire in the years between 1898 and 1903. The members of the group were predominantly from Veles and most of them − young graduates from the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki. The group was radicalized by the Bulgarian anarchist Slavi Merdzhanov, whose initial target was the capital Istanbul, and subsequently Adrianople, but after his execution by the Ottomans in 1901, the group's attention shifted to Thessaloniki. From April 28 until May 1, 1903, the group led a campaign of terror bombing in Thessaloniki. Their aim was to attract the attention of the Great Powers to Ottoman oppression in Macedonia and Thrace. The group's roots can be traced to 1898 in Geneva, and nearly all of its founders were natives from Bulgaria. It was associated with the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization, but also had close ties with the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee. The result of the bombings was disastrous for the Bulgarian community in Thessaloniki.
Mile Popyordanov, born Milan Popyordanov, was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary and member of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO). He is considered a Macedonian by the historians in North Macedonia.
Hristo Dimitrov Uzunov was a Macedonian Bulgarian teacher and revolutionary, head of the Ohrid branch of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization and its ideological leader in the Ohrid region.
Yordan Piperkov (1870–1903), widely known as Yordan Piperkata, was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary from the early 20th century, member of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee and later of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO).
Andon Lazov Yanev, nicknamed Kyoseto, was a Bulgarian revolutionary and a freedom fighter of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO). Although he identified as Bulgarian, according to the historiography in North Macedonia, he was an ethnic Macedonian.
Slaveyko Arsov Kikiritkov was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary, leader of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) for the region of Resen. He is regarded an ethnic Macedonian in North Macedonia.
Kosta S. Shahov was a Macedonian Bulgarian public figure, journalist, activist of the Young Macedonian Literary Society and the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee.
Nikola Petkov Pushkarov (1874–1934) was the first Bulgarian soil researcher and founder of the soil science in Bulgaria. He was also an activist of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization.
Petar (Pere) Naumov Toshev was a Bulgarian teacher and an activist of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization. In the historiography in North Macedonia he is considered an ethnic Macedonian revolutionary.
Petar Sokolov was a Bulgarian revolutionary, anarchist, and member of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization.
Petar Georgiev Mandzhukov was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary and anarchist, member of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization and of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee.
The Supreme Macedonian Committee chetas' action in 1895 was an armed expedition of several chetas from Bulgaria into the Ottoman-ruled Macedonia and Thrace in the period of June-August 1895. Its aim was to provoke a general uprising in the area and to draw the attention of the Great Powers to non-compliance of the Treaty of Berlin (1878), and the provided reforms in European Turkey. The Supreme Macedonian Committee invited about 40 active and reserve officers from the Bulgarian army, as well as some old vojvodes from Macedonia. Among them were Boris Sarafov, Toma Davidov, Mihail Apostolov, Yordan Venedikov, etc. The number of the rebels was about 800 people, divided into four detachments. After invading Macedonia, the separate detachments headed to Strumica, Melnik and Dospat, respectively, but generally did not achieve much success. The failure of the action caused disagreements in the organization. The Ottoman government took advantage of the attack of the Pomaks populated Dospat and spread information about the atrocities in the European press. The Great Powers did not react as expected to the raising of the Macedonian question and instead of putting pressure on the Ottoman Empire, they put pressure on the Bulgarian government.
Sotir Atanasov Yanakiev was a Bulgarian Army officer, revolutionary and voivode of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee.
Atanas Ivanov Razdolov was a socialist revolutionary and writer from the region of Macedonia.
Bulgarian officers' brotherhoods known also as Bulgarian liberation fraternities was a clandestine military organization created at the end of the 19th century in Bulgarian army with the aim of drawing Bulgaria into a war with the Ottoman Empire. Their ultimate goal was the freedom of the territory of Macedonia and Adrianople Thrace. The brotherhoods played a significant role in the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan revolutionary movement until the beginning of the Balkan Wars.