Hristo Chernopeev

Who was Hristo Chernopeev?

Hristo Chernopeev was a Bulgarian revolutionary and member of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia. He was among the leaders of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees. Chernopeev worked as sergeant in Bulgarian Army from 1889 to 1899. Afterwards he became an active member of the Macedonian liberation movement and took part in the Miss Stone Affair in 1901 in Pirin Mountain. After the suppression of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising in 1903 together with Yane Sandanski and Dimo Hadjidimov he set the base of the left wing of IMRO. During this period he led a band in Kilkis' region and worked as a military instructor in IMRO. After the Young Turks revolution in 1908 Chernopeev was one of the founders of the People's Federative Party. From 1911 he became member of Central Committee of IMRO and during 1912 was leader of a volunteer regiment in the First Balkan War. In 1913 Hristo Chernopeev was elected as deputy in the Bulgarian parliament. In 1915 he left the parliament and went at the front as a reserve officer. Chernopeev was killed on the front during the First World War on 6 November 1915 in a battle with French troops near Krivolak, Štip. He was buried in the courtyard of the church in Novo Selo, now a quarter of Štip. After the communists seized power in Macedonia the nameplate on his grave was destroyed in 1945. In November 2010 his mortal remains and the remains of ten other Bulgarian officers were еxhumed by unknown circumstances.