Boris Drangov

Who was Boris Drangov?

Boris Stoyanov Drangov was a Bulgarian colonel and warfare pedagogue.

Drangov was born in Skopje in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia, to the family of a rich timber merchant. He graduated from the local Bulgarian Exarchate school or the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki. In 1891, he enrolled in the Military School in Sofia in the Principality of Bulgaria. After a conflict with an officer, he was dispatched to Lom in 1894; in the town, Drangov met his future wife and was promoted to second lieutenant in 1895. In 1899, he became a first lieutenant.

During the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising of 1903, Drangov left the Bulgarian Army to arrive in Macedonia. There, he assembled an armed detachment of 120 men which fought the Ottomans in the Kratovo region. After the uprising's suppression, Drangov returned to the army and was promoted to rotmistar. He studied at the Imperial Russian General Staff Academy in Saint Petersburg; he graduated with honours in 1907 and returned to Bulgarian service. Promoted to major in 1910, he became a lecturer of military tactics at the Military School in Sofia.