Manol Vasev
Manol Vassev (Bulgarian: Манол Васев; 1898 - 1958),[1] real name Yordan Sotirov (Bulgarian: Йордан Сотиров)[2] was a Bulgarian anarchist and syndicalist, considered to personify militant syndicalism and anarcho-communism in Bulgaria.[3]
Life[edit]
Manol Vassev was born Jordan Sotirov in the town of Kyustendil in Bulgaria. He entered the tobacco industry as a worker during his teenage years, and his experiences there went on to form his worldview and opinions.[4] During the First World War, he became an anarchist, and after being demobilized, he became a workplace organizer. In 1923, he gave the idea to form a political detachment locally.[5] After wounding an army officer during a strike in Kustendil, Vassev was sentenced to 15 years in prison. However, he escaped, took the pseudonym Manol Vassev, and moved to Haskovo.[6] In 1932, still working in the tobacco industry, he published the pamphlet Tongata.[7] During the 1930s, he helped organize the Vlassovden peasant movement[8] along with Gueorgui Sarafov and other anarchists in the area.[6]
During the Second World War, Vassev was arrested on 10 March 1945 at Kniajevo and sent to Dupnitsa concentration camp, but was released following public protests. Vassev assisted resistance movements in Bulgaria, becoming a popular figure in Haskovo after helping the resistance avoid a trap on 8 September 1945.[6] Convicted of illegal possession of a weapon,[9] serving five years at the prison in Sliven.[6][10] Vassev died in prison allegedly due to a deliberate poisoning by Bulgarian secret police the day before he was due to be released on 11 March 1958.[6][9][1]
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ^ a b Balkanski 1965, p. 128.
- ^ Reconstruir 1974, p. 63.
- ^ Vasilev 1983, p. 3.
- ^ Naidanov 1952, p. 4.
- ^ Izvestiya na dŭrzhavnite arkhivi 1999, p. 262.
- ^ a b c d e Heath.
- ^ Boncheva 1991, p. 18.
- ^ Van der Walt & Schmidt 2009, p. 272.
- ^ a b Gadzhev 2004, p. 383.
- ^ United Federation of Russian Workers' Organizations of the United States and Canada 1956, p. 36.
Bibliography[edit]
- Balkanski, G. (1965). G. Cheïtanov: pages d'histoire du mouvement libertaire bulgare. Editions "Notre Route".
- Boncheva, Ekaterina (1991). Свидетели: българският гулаг: сборник от документални разкази за концлагерите в България. Изд. на в. "Демокрация".
- Gadzhev, Ivan (2004). Лушин: Volume 5. Ин-т по история на българската емиграция в Северна Америка "Илия Тодоров Гаджев". ISBN 9789549163032.
- Heath, Nick. "Vassev, Manol, 1898-1958".
- Naidanov, Dantcho (1952). Nash pŭt.
- United Federation of Russian Workers' Organizations of the United States and Canada (1956). Дело труда-Пробуждение: Volumes 32-38. Dielo truda-Probuzhdenie.
- Van der Walt, Lucien; Schmidt, Michael (2009). Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism. AK Press. ISBN 9781904859161.
- Vasilev, P. (1983). L'Idée des Soviets (PDF). Groupe Fresnes-Antony de la Fédération anarchiste.
- Reconstruir: Issues 92-101. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 1974.
- Известия на държавните архиви: Volume 72. Наука и изкуство. 1999.