Todor Aleksandrov

Infobox Person
name = Todor Aleksandrov


caption = Portrarit
birth_date = birth date|1881|3|4|mf=y
birth_place = Shtip, (present day Republic of Macedonia)
dead =dead
death_date = August 31, 1924
death_place = Sugarevo, Bulgaria

Todor Aleksandrov Poporushov also transliterated as Todor Alexandrov (Bulgarian and Macedonian: "Тодор Александров"), was a 19th century revolutionary and member of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees (BMARC) since 1897 [BMARC and IMARO were the predecessors of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). IMARO and IMRO changed names on several occasions. To avoid confusion, this article uses only the name and acronym "IMARO". For a detailed discussion of the organization and its history, please consult the dedicated IMRO article] . He is considered ethnic Macedonian (controversial pro-Bulgarian oriented figure) in the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgarian in Bulgaria.

Biography

Aleksandrov was born in the Novo Selo suburb of Shtip, present day Republic of Macedonia, to Aleksandar Poporushev and Marija Aleksandrova. In 1898, he finished the Bulgarian Pedagogical School in Skopje and became a Bulgarian teacher consecutively in the towns of Kocani, Kratovo, the village of Vinica, and Shtip. He also attended the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki.

In 1903 Todor Aleksandrov distinguished himself as an extraordinary leader and organizer of the Kocani Revolutionary District. He was arrested by the Ottoman authorities on March 3, 1903 and sent to Skopje under enforced police escort during the same night. He was sentenced to five years of solitary confinement by the extraordinary court there. In April 1904, he was released after an amnesty. Soon afterwards, he was appointed a head teacher in the Second high-school in Shtip. Aleksandrov, in co-operation with Todor Lazarov and Mishe Razvigorov, worked day and night to organize the Shtip Revolutionary District. The results of his activities were detected by the Ottoman authorities and in November 1904 he was forbidden to teach. On January 10, 1905 Aleksandrov's house was surrounded by a numerous troops but he succeeded in breaking through the military cordoned and immediately joined the "cheta" (band) of Mishe Razvigorov where he became its secretary. Aleksandrov attended the First Congress of the Skopje Revolutionary Region as a delegate from the Shtip district.His deteriorating health lead him to become a teacher in Bulgaria - the Black Sea town of Burgas in 1906, but after learning about the death of Mishe Razvigorov, he abandoned his work as a teacher and returned to Macedonia at once. In November 1907, Aleksandrov was elected as a district vojvoda (commander) by the Third Congress of the Skopje Revolutionary District.

On August 2, 1909 the Ottomans made another attempt to arrest him but failed again. In the spring of 1910 he and his "cheta" traversed the Skopje region and organized the revolutionary activities. At the beginning of 1911, Todor Aleksandrov became a member of the Central Committee of the IMARO. In 1912, he became a vojvoda in the Kukush and Solun districts where he carried out a number of sabotages against Ottoman targets, facilitating this way the Macedonian cause in the First Balkan War. He supported an independent Macedonian state. In 1913, he was at the head quarters of the Third brigade of the Macedonian Militia in the Bulgarian army. After 1913 he organized the IMARO resistance against other nationalities - Serbs and Greeks. On November 4, 1919 Aleksandrov was arrested by the government of Aleksandar Stamboliyski but he succeeded to escape nine days later. In the spring of 1920, Aleksandrov went with a "cheta" to Serbian Macedonia where he restored the revolutionary organization and attracted the world's attention to the unsolved Macedonian question. At the end of 1922, there was a bounty of 250,000 denars placed on him by the Serbian authorities in Belgrade.

In 1924 the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) entered negotiations with the Comintern about collaboration between the communists and the creation of a united Macedonian movement. The idea for a new unified organization was supported by the Soviet Union, which saw a chance for using this well developed revolutionary movement to spread revolution in the Balkans and destabilize the Balkan monarchies. Alexandrov defended IMRO's independence and refused to concede on practically all points requested by the Communists. No agreement was reached besides a paper "Manifesto" (the so-called May Manifesto of 6 May 1924), in which the objectives of the unified Macedonian liberation movement were presented: independence and unification of partitioned Macedonia, fighting all the neighbouring Balkan monarchies, forming a Balkan Communist Federation and cooperation with the Soviet Union. Failing to secure Alexandrov's cooperation, the Comintern decided to discredit him and published the contents of the Manifesto on 28 July 1924 in the "Balkan Federation" newspaper. Todor Aleksandrov and Aleksandar Protogerov promptly denied through the Bulgarian press that they have ever signed any agreements, claiming that the May Manifesto was a communist forgery. Shortly after, Alexandrov was assassinated in unclear circumstances, when a member in his "cheta" shot him on August 31, 1924 in the Pirin Mountains. He was survived by a wife (Vangelia), son (Alexander) and daughter (Maria). Maria Aleksandrova (Koeva) was a strong proponent of her father's ideals and IMRO's charter.

Ethnicity

As most of the events and developments in late 19th century Macedonia, the national and ethnic affiliations of Todor Aleksandrov are a contentious issue. The Bulgarianness of Alexandrov is recognized by several Macedonian historians like academician Ivan Katardzhiev, [http://www.manu.edu.mk/departments.htm director of the Historical Sciences section] in the Department of Social Sciences in the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the director of the Macedonian State archive Ph. D. Zoran Todorovski. Katardjiev defines all Macedonian revolutionaries from the period before 1930-ies as "Bulgarians" and asserts that separatism of some Macedonian revolutionaties toward official Bulgarian policy was only political phenomenon without ethnic character. Todorovski asserts that "All of them declared themselves as Bulgarians...." [ [http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:QG8w6jpqTiIJ:www.tribune.eu.com/articles/79.html+http://www.tribune.eu.com/articles/79.html&hl=bg&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=bg Tribune. Издание: 2007/118, освежено: 05.11.2007. Уште робуваме на старите поделби. Разговор со приредувачот на Зборникот документи за Тодор Александров, д-р Зоран Тодоровски. 27.06.2005] ]

2008 monument controversy

Bulgarians from the Republic of Macedonia raised a monument of the revolutionary on February 2, 2008 in the city of Veles. After the local administration refused to provide a place for the bust it was raised in the yard of the local Bulgarian resident Dragi Karov. The following night Karov received a number of threats and eventually the monument was pushed down by unknown individuals. [cite web
url=http://news.ibox.bg/news/id_671184739
title=News.bg - ВМРО откри паметник на Тодор Александров в Македония
publisher=news.ibox.bg
accessdate=2008-03-16
last=
first=] It was pushed down again, immediately after being raised back. No investigation is to be held as to who is responsible for the act. Instead Karov is to be persecuted for raising a monument in his yard and for waving the Bulgarian flag. [cite web
url=http://news.ibox.bg/news/id_1894390842
title=News.bg - Бутнаха бюста на Тодор Александров
publisher=news.ibox.bg
accessdate=2008-03-16
last=
first=] This incident caused Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov to call upon Republic of Macedonia to review the history of Alexandrov's deeds on his meeting with Branko Crvenkovski in the town of Sandanski. [cite web
url=http://news.ibox.bg/news/id_1765798107
title=News.bg - Македония и България са с обща история, обяви Първанов
publisher=news.ibox.bg
accessdate=2008-03-16
last=
first=]

ee also

* [http://www.todoralexandrov.org/ An internet site, dedicated to Todor Aleksandrov]
* [http://todoralexandrov.hit.bg/gallery/grob2.html A site dedicated to Todor Alexandrov]
*Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
*History of the Republic of Macedonia
*History of Bulgaria

References and notes