Aleksandar Protogerov



Alexandar Protogerov (1867 Ohrid, Ottoman Empire, today Republic of Macedonia - 1928, Sofia) was a Bulgarian general, politician and revolutionary as well as a member of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia, Thrace and Pomoravlje. He was among the leaders of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee and later joined the  Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. He was a volunteer in the Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885. Protogerov took part in the Gorna Djumaya upspring in 1902 and in the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising.

In the Balkan Wars, Protogerov was one of the organizers of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps and Assistant Commander of this military unit. During the First World War, he commanded the Third Infantry Brigade of 11th Macedonian division and then became commander of the Bulgarian troops in the Serbian-occupied region of Pomoravlje. There he suppressed the Toplica uprising. Later, as commandant of Sofia, Protogerov suppressed the Bulgarian soldier's uprising.

After World War I, Protogerov was elected as one of the leaders of IMRO. In 1924, IMRO entered negotiations with the Comintern about collaboration between the communists and the Macedonian movement and the creation of a united Macedonian movement. Protogerov and Petar Chaulev probably signed the so-called May Manifesto about forming a Balkan Communist Federation and cooperation with the Soviet Union in Vienna. Later, Protogerov denied through the Bulgarian press that they had ever signed any agreements, claiming that the May Manifesto was a communist forgery. Shortly after, Todor Alexandrov was assassinated in unclear circumstances and IMRO came under the leadership of Ivan Mihailov, who became a powerful figure in Bulgarian politics. The result of the murder was further strife within the organisation and several high-profile murders, including that of Protogetov himself.