An anniversary from Stoyan Zaimov’s birth

Stoyan Zaimov is a Bulgarian Revival revolutionary. He was born on August 12, 1853 in the town of Chirpan. Still schoolboy he joined the National Liberation fights of the Bulgarians under Ottoman rule. In 1873 he was sentenced to imprisonment for life in Diarbekir because of his participation in the homicide of Hadji Stavri in Haskovo. At the end of 1874 he managed to break out of prison and settled in Romania. Stoyan Zaimov was one of the founders of the Gyurgevo (Giurgiu) Revolutionary Committee. He was appointed Apostle of the 3rd Revolutionary Vratza District. He planned and organized the rebel army's moves. When Botev’s guerrilla detachment crossed the Danube River a numerous Turkish army prevented the Vratza rebels from joining Botev and making for Vesletz, as the plan said. Stoyan Zaimov was captured and sentenced to death by the special Turkish court in Rousse. The strong public support however forced the death sentence to be replaced by life imprisonment in Asia Minor. There he welcomed the Liberation and was brought back to Bulgaria under the power of the Peace Treaty of San Stefano. After 1878 Stoyan Zaimov founded military-historical museums and memorials of gratitude in Sofia, Pleven, Byala, Pordim and Gorna Studena. As a memoirs- writer he produced works on Bulgaria's National Liberation movement.