Voivode Apostol Petkov Terziev

Apostol Petkov Terziev, known as Apostol Boymichki or Postol the Voivode, was a Bulgarian hajduk and revolutionary born in the second half of the nineteenth century in the village of Dripchevo in the Haskovo region. His struggle against the Ottoman Empire began as a hajduk, and in 1897 he became an important figure in the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation (IMARO).

In 1892, Apostol began hajduk activity with his brother Tano and three other members of a detachment in the Gevgelija and Yenice Vardar regions, fighting Turkish troops and entering the ranks of IMARO. After meeting the organisation's leader, Damyan Gruev, he became one of its voivodes and led the struggle to defend the Bulgarian population in the region.

Apostol the Voivode actively participated in the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising of 1903. Afterwards he continued his revolutionary activity, organising resistance in the area of Lake Yenice Vardar against the Greek andartes detachments that appeared after the uprising.

In 1905, Apostol the Voivode established a network of refuges around Lake Yenice Vardar and continued fighting Turkish troops. He successfully led his detachment in numerous battles against Turkish bands and irregulars. In the following years, he and his detachment took part in many clashes, and he gained popularity among both the Bulgarian population and foreigners.

On 2 August 1911, Apostol the Voivode died in a battle near the village of Krushari in the Yenice Vardar region, together with the voivodes Georgi Muchitanov, known as Kasapcheto, and Vasil Pufkata. There are different accounts of his death, including one in which the voivodes were betrayed by a Bulgarian and died fighting the Turkish gendarmerie, and another in which the betrayer poisoned them. Apostol the Voivode remains one of the iconic figures of the Bulgarian revolutionary struggle and is honoured by the people as a hero.