Andon Kyoseto
Encyclopedia
Andon Lazov Yanev, nicknamed Kyoseto, was a Bulgaria
n revolutionary and a freedom fighter of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO).
, Čaška Municipality
in Vardar Macedonia
. Until the age of 16, he worked as a shepherd with his two brothers and his two sisters. After his father was arrested and taken away to Thessaloniki
, they moved in Veles
into the house of their uncle. In Veles, Andon killed an eminent Turk
and escaped to Thessaloniki, where he joined the revolutionary organization IMARO. At the beginning, he started to execute simple tasks that were assigned to him by the organization. He met Dame Gruev
who became his superior and ordered him to do certain tasks for the organization. Later, he worked as cabman of Doctor Hristo Tatarchev
in order to mask his illegal activities. At that time, his brother Nikola, who came to Thessaloniki, placed himself in the service of the Turkish
authorities. At the suggestion of Andon Kyoseto, the organization killed his brother, so that he could not betray the organization. Andon also participated in the execution the Serbian teacher Peychinovich in Thessaloniki. With the help of Argir Manasiev, he executed the grecophille Tsitso from the town of Gevgelija
. He returned to Thessaloniki, but only for a short time, because the Turkish authorities started investigations against him. Together with the revolutionary band of Iliya Karchovaliyata and Mihail Apostolov Popeto, they collected money from eminent inhabitants of the village of Gorno Brodi, and then they toured the region of Kilkis
. There, Andon Kyoseto together with few of his friends, kidnapped the son of a rich man, and after 25 days he received 1000 lira for the ransom. Because of certain misunderstandings, his revolutionary band got arrested in Bulgaria. Gotse Delchev
and Anton Bozukov helped their release. During his stay in Sofia
, he executed the orders of Gotse Delchev. Later, Andon Kyoseto, Gotse Delchev and Mihail Apostolov Popeto
made an unsuccessful attempt to take money by the kidnapping of a bey from Strumica
. In 1897, together with Mihail Apostolov Popeto, he organized a revolutionary band, which operated in the regions of Kilkis, Dojran
, Gevgelija
, Ano Poroia
, Maleševo, and Strumica. After the murder of the Romania
n publicist Ştefan Mihăileanu, and the rumors of the coming war between Bulgaria
and Romania
, they went to Kyustendil
and then to Sofia. There he was visited by the representative body of the Revolutionary Organization and had meetings with Gotse Delchev, Boris Sarafov
, Mihail Gerdzhikov
and others. Until the murder of Mihail Apostolov in March 1902, Andon Kyoseto was a leader of a revolutionary band in the region of Strumica, and later in the region of Kilkis. From 1900 he had contacts with Yane Sandanski
. In 1901, he participated in the Miss Stone Affair
.
, Andon Kyoseto was ordered, together with Gyorche Petrov and Luka Ivanov, to lead a revolutionary band in the region of Prilep
. In the village of Trojaci
, he initiated a minor battle against the Turkish military and after he split with Gyorche Petrov, Luka Ivanov and Pere Toshev, he went to the region of Veles
. On October 17, 1903, before leaving the village of Skačinci
, Andon Kyoseto together with 30 freedom fighters was engaged in a battle on "Klepata" against 500 Turkish soldiers. Boris Sarafov and his group of 70 freedom fighters then came and struck the Turkish military from the rear. Only four freedom fighters were killed, as opposed to 65 casualties on the Turkish side. The bands managed to escape during the night. They also escaped two ambushes set by Turkish soldiers. From the village of Prosenikovo
, they headed to the border with Bulgaria and arrived in Kyustendil in the middle of December, 1903.
In the Balkan Wars
, Andon Kyoseto, Yonko Vaptsarov, Georgi Zankov, Toshe Kolagov, Tasko Kocherinski, Mihail Chakov, Lazar Topalov, Stefan Chavdarov, Peyo Yavorov and others, formed a revolutionary band that was headed by Hristo Chernopeev
. The band accompanied the 27-th Chepinski regiment on its attack on Mehomiya
. Afterwards, Andon Kyoseto served in the headquarters of the 13-th Kukush Section.
Andon Kyoseto died in Blagoevgrad
in 1953.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n revolutionary and a freedom fighter of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO).
Early years
Andon Kyoseto was born in 1885 in the village of GolozinciCaška municipality
Čaška is a municipality in central Republic of Macedonia. Čaška is also the name of the village where the municipal seat is found. This municipality is part of the Vardar Statistical Region.-Geography:...
, Čaška Municipality
Caška municipality
Čaška is a municipality in central Republic of Macedonia. Čaška is also the name of the village where the municipal seat is found. This municipality is part of the Vardar Statistical Region.-Geography:...
in Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia is an area in the north of the Macedonia . The borders of the area are those of the Republic of Macedonia. It covers an area of...
. Until the age of 16, he worked as a shepherd with his two brothers and his two sisters. After his father was arrested and taken away to Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, they moved in Veles
Veles (city)
Veles is a city in the center of the Republic of Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality.-Name:The city's name was Vylosa in Ancient Greek and before the Balkan Wars, it was a township with the name Köprülü in the Üsküp sandjak, Ottoman empire for 600...
into the house of their uncle. In Veles, Andon killed an eminent Turk
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
and escaped to Thessaloniki, where he joined the revolutionary organization IMARO. At the beginning, he started to execute simple tasks that were assigned to him by the organization. He met Dame Gruev
Dame Gruev
Damyan Yovanov Gruev or Damjan Jovanov Gruev, often known by his short name Dame Gruev, was an insurgent leader in Ottoman Macedonia and Thrace...
who became his superior and ordered him to do certain tasks for the organization. Later, he worked as cabman of Doctor Hristo Tatarchev
Hristo Tatarchev
Hristo Tatarchev was a Bulgarian revolutionary and first leader of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia and Eastern Thrace . He wrote the memoirs The First Central Committee of the IMRO . He authored several political journalism works between the First and Second World Wars...
in order to mask his illegal activities. At that time, his brother Nikola, who came to Thessaloniki, placed himself in the service of the Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
authorities. At the suggestion of Andon Kyoseto, the organization killed his brother, so that he could not betray the organization. Andon also participated in the execution the Serbian teacher Peychinovich in Thessaloniki. With the help of Argir Manasiev, he executed the grecophille Tsitso from the town of Gevgelija
Gevgelija
Gevgelija is a town with a population of 15,685 located in the very southeast of the Republic of Macedonia along the banks of the Vardar River, situated at the country's main border with Greece , the point which links the motorway from Skopje and three other former Yugoslav capitals with...
. He returned to Thessaloniki, but only for a short time, because the Turkish authorities started investigations against him. Together with the revolutionary band of Iliya Karchovaliyata and Mihail Apostolov Popeto, they collected money from eminent inhabitants of the village of Gorno Brodi, and then they toured the region of Kilkis
Kilkis
Kilkis is an industrial city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2001 there were 17,430 people living in the city proper, 24,812 people living in the municipal unit, and 56,336 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city of the regional unit of Kilkis.-Name:Kilkis is located in a...
. There, Andon Kyoseto together with few of his friends, kidnapped the son of a rich man, and after 25 days he received 1000 lira for the ransom. Because of certain misunderstandings, his revolutionary band got arrested in Bulgaria. Gotse Delchev
Gotse Delchev
Georgi Nikolov Delchev was an important revolutionary figure in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia and Thrace at the turn of the 20th century...
and Anton Bozukov helped their release. During his stay in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, he executed the orders of Gotse Delchev. Later, Andon Kyoseto, Gotse Delchev and Mihail Apostolov Popeto
Mihail Apostolov
Mihail Raynov Apostolov, known also as Mihal Postolov or Popeto, was an officer in the Bulgarian army and a worker of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization .-Early years:...
made an unsuccessful attempt to take money by the kidnapping of a bey from Strumica
Strumica
Strumica is the largest city in eastern Macedonia, near the Novo Selo-Petrich border crossing with Bulgaria. About 100,000 people live in the region surrounding the city. The city is named after the Strumica River which runs through it...
. In 1897, together with Mihail Apostolov Popeto, he organized a revolutionary band, which operated in the regions of Kilkis, Dojran
Dojran
Dojran was a city located on the western shore of Dojran Lake in the south-eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia. Today, it is collective name for two villages that exist on the territory of the ruined city: Nov Dojran and Star Dojran, which contains both old ruins and recent construction,...
, Gevgelija
Gevgelija
Gevgelija is a town with a population of 15,685 located in the very southeast of the Republic of Macedonia along the banks of the Vardar River, situated at the country's main border with Greece , the point which links the motorway from Skopje and three other former Yugoslav capitals with...
, Ano Poroia
Ano Poroia
Ano Poroia is a village in Greece, located in Macedonia. The population was 1,529 people...
, Maleševo, and Strumica. After the murder of the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n publicist Ştefan Mihăileanu, and the rumors of the coming war between Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, they went to Kyustendil
Kyustendil
Kyustendil is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of Kyustendil Province, with a population of 44 416 . Kyustendil is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, 90 km southwest of Sofia...
and then to Sofia. There he was visited by the representative body of the Revolutionary Organization and had meetings with Gotse Delchev, Boris Sarafov
Boris Sarafov
Boris Petrov Sarafov was a revolutionary from the region of Macedonia, one of the leaders of Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee and Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization...
, Mihail Gerdzhikov
Mihail Gerdzhikov
Mihail Gerdzhikov was born in Plovdiv, then in the Ottoman Empire, in 1877. He studied at the French College, where he received the nickname Michelle. As a student in 1893 he started his revolutionary activities as the leader of a Macedonian Secret Revolutionary Committee...
and others. Until the murder of Mihail Apostolov in March 1902, Andon Kyoseto was a leader of a revolutionary band in the region of Strumica, and later in the region of Kilkis. From 1900 he had contacts with Yane Sandanski
Yane Sandanski
Yane Ivanov Sandanski or Jane Ivanov Sandanski, was a revolutionary, one of the leaders of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization in the Serres region and head of the extreme leftist wing of the organization...
. In 1901, he participated in the Miss Stone Affair
Miss Stone Affair
The Miss Stone Affair was the kidnapping of American Protestant missionary Ellen Maria Stone and her pregnant friend Katerina Stefanova–Tsilka by an IMORO detachment led by the voivoda Yane Sandanski and the sub-voivodas Hristo Chernopeev and Krǎstyo Asenov on 21 August 1901. The two women were...
.
After the uprising
During the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie UprisingIlinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising
The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising or simply the Ilinden Uprising of August 1903 |Macedonia]] affected most of the central and southwestern parts of the Monastir Vilayet receiving the support mainly of the local Bulgarian peasants and to some extent of the Aromanian population of the region...
, Andon Kyoseto was ordered, together with Gyorche Petrov and Luka Ivanov, to lead a revolutionary band in the region of Prilep
Prilep
Prilep is the fourth largest city in the Republic of Macedonia. It has a population of 66,246 citizens. Prilep is known as "the city under Marko's Towers" because of its proximity to the towers of Prince Marko.-Name:...
. In the village of Trojaci
Prilep municipality
Prilep is a municipality in southern Republic of Macedonia. Prilep is also the name of the city where the municipal seat is found. It is located in the Pelagonia Statistical Region.-Geography:...
, he initiated a minor battle against the Turkish military and after he split with Gyorche Petrov, Luka Ivanov and Pere Toshev, he went to the region of Veles
Veles
Veles may refer to:*Veles , Slavic deity*Veles , in the Republic of Macedonia*Veles municipality, in the Republic of Macedonia*Veles, singular of velites, a class of infantry in the early Roman Republic...
. On October 17, 1903, before leaving the village of Skačinci
Gradsko municipality
Gradsko is a municipality in eastern Republic of Macedonia. Gradsko is also the name of the village where the municipal seat is found. Gradsko Municipality is part of the Vardar Statistical Region.-Geography:...
, Andon Kyoseto together with 30 freedom fighters was engaged in a battle on "Klepata" against 500 Turkish soldiers. Boris Sarafov and his group of 70 freedom fighters then came and struck the Turkish military from the rear. Only four freedom fighters were killed, as opposed to 65 casualties on the Turkish side. The bands managed to escape during the night. They also escaped two ambushes set by Turkish soldiers. From the village of Prosenikovo
Strumica municipality
Strumica is a municipality in eastern Republic of Macedonia. Strumica is also the name of the city where the municipal seat is found. Strumica Municipality is part of the Southeastern Statistical Region.-Geography:...
, they headed to the border with Bulgaria and arrived in Kyustendil in the middle of December, 1903.
In the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
, Andon Kyoseto, Yonko Vaptsarov, Georgi Zankov, Toshe Kolagov, Tasko Kocherinski, Mihail Chakov, Lazar Topalov, Stefan Chavdarov, Peyo Yavorov and others, formed a revolutionary band that was headed by Hristo Chernopeev
Hristo Chernopeev
Hristo Chernopeev was a Bulgarian revolutionary and member of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia...
. The band accompanied the 27-th Chepinski regiment on its attack on Mehomiya
Razlog
Razlog is a town and ski resort in Razlog Municipality, Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria. It is situated in the Razlog Valley and was first mentioned during the reign of Byzantine emperor Basil II....
. Afterwards, Andon Kyoseto served in the headquarters of the 13-th Kukush Section.
Andon Kyoseto died in Blagoevgrad
Blagoevgrad
Blagoevgrad is а city in southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Province, with a population of about 74,302 . It lies on the banks of the Blagoevgradska Bistritsa River....
in 1953.