Marko Lerinski

Background

Gyurov was born in Kotel in Ottoman Rumelia, today a town in central eastern Bulgaria.

Career

In 1883, he joined the Principality of Bulgaria"s armed forces. He took part in the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885. In 1895, he left the Bulgarian Army to join the Supreme Macedonian–Adrianople Committee and take part in its 1895 organized anti-Ottoman action, which involved the burning of Dospat.

After the action"s failure, he returned to the army as a non-commissioned officer

In 1900, he got in contact with revolutionaries Gotse Delchev and Gyorche Petrov, who recruited him in IMARO. They dispatched him as a regional leader (voivode) in the Lerin region (today Florina, Greece), where his nickname comes from. Other IMARO voivodes from the Principality of Bulgaria, such as Hristo Chernopeev, were also recruited at the time.

Thanks to Lerinski"s military training and his organizational abilities, his armed detachment became what was essentially a school for voivodes and members for the entire IMARO. According to fellow IMARO member and writer Hristo Silyanov, Marko Lerinski turned Lerin into ".. a region of model in every respect. Enthustiastic activists, strict organization, a disciplined and, in the full sense of the words, propagandist and organizational detachment.

That was all the work of Marko from Kotel."

Marko Lerinski was the first person to suggest a common uprising in both Macedonia and South Thrace (the region of Edirne), an idea that would be put into practice with the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising of 1903.

However, he did not live to witness the uprising. After his detachment"s location was reported to the Ottoman authorities, Lerinski died in a battle with Ottoman forces near Patele (Agios Panteleimonas, Florina) on 13 June 1902.

Achievements

• Foreign his bravery, he was awarded a medal and promoted. His comrades even nicknamed him Geroyski (Геройски), "heroic".

Membership

A prominent member of the Internal Macedonian–Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO), Lerinski was the first person to propose a common anti-Ottoman uprising in Macedonia and Eastern Thrace.