Monument to Petko Voyvoda

Petko Kirkov Kaloyanov , better known as Captain Petko Voyvoda (5 December 1844 – 7 February 1900) was a 19th-century Bulgarian Hajduk leader and freedom fighter who dedicated his life to the liberation of Bulgaria (particularly, the region of Thrace).

He was born in the Bulgarian village of Dogan Hisar (today Aisymi - Greece). When a group of Turkish brigands attacked his wife, he killed them all, including the leader of the Bashibuzuks, Mehmed Kesedji Bey.

Beginning in 1861 Petko began fighting against the Ottomans in the surrounding areas of Maroneia, Aisymi and Enos. In 1866 he met Giuseppe Garibaldi, who helped Petko organize the well-known "Garibaldi Battalion" in the Cretan Revolution of 1866–1869, consisting of 220 Italians and 67 Bulgarians, who fought the Ottomans on Crete under Petko's command; Petko was assigned the military title of Kapetan (Captain).

Petko Voyvoda's detachment took part in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. He founded the revolutionary committee called Strandzha in 1896.

His revolutionary work has been commemorated with numerous monuments all around Bulgaria. The TV series Captain Petko Voivode written by Nikolay Haytov and first aired in 1981 also popularized him as a national hero. There are several Bulgarian patriotic songs dedicated to Petko and his comrades.

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Source

• Text: Martin Damen
• Photos: Martin Damen