Revolutionary Andrey Blaskov

Andrey Raykov Blaskov was a Bulgarian officer and major general, born in Shumen on 25 February 1857. He was the son of the National Revival teacher Rayko Blaskov and brother of the writer Iliya Blaskov. In 1875, he graduated from the Aprilov Secondary School and continued his education at the Bulgarian school in Bucharest and the Odesa Military School.

He actively participated in the national liberation movement as a courier for the Gabrovo Local Revolutionary Committee. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, he served in the Fourth Company of the Second Battalion of the Bulgarian Volunteer Corps and fought at Stara Zagora and Shipka, receiving the Cross of St George, Fourth Class. In 1878, he was promoted to the commissioned rank of ensign.

In 1885, he graduated from the Military Academy in Russia and served in the Eighth Infantry Battalion. During the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885, he commanded the Fifth Danube Infantry Regiment, displaying great tactical skill and manoeuvrability in holding back the Serbian Drina Division on 5 November. For his participation in the war, he received the Order for Bravery, Fourth Class, and was promoted to major.

After the war, he participated in deposing Prince Alexander I of Battenberg and was dismissed from the army following the counter-revolution. He was later rehabilitated and served as a department head at the Ministry of War. During the First Balkan War of 1912–1913, he was mobilised and served in the Main Rear Administration.

Blaskov chaired the Shipka Association of Liberation Fighters and Volunteer Corps Veterans in Gabrovo and later the Central Association of Liberation Fighters and Volunteer Corps Veterans in Sofia. He died in Sofia on 27 November 1943.