Revolutionary Argir Manasiev

Argir Nakov Manasiev, called Gevgeliyski, was a Bulgarian revolutionary, teacher and public figure, an active member of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation (IMARO). He was district voivode for Gevgelija and chairman of IMARO's Gorna Dzhumaya district governing body, using the pseudonym Azop.

In 1893, after a scandal involving pupils' performance of Shumi Maritsa (The Maritsa Roars) while welcoming Catholic Bishop Lazar Mladenov from Rome, Manasiev left Zeytinlak and worked as a musician for a year.

Recruited by Gotse Delchev and Dame Gruev, he joined IMARO in 1894. During this period Manasiev studied at the Bulgarian school in Novo Selo near Thessaloniki and, as a teacher, organised a revolutionary committee in Negovan.

In 1901, after the Thessaloniki and Bayaltsi affairs, Manasiev was forced to go underground and took command of Mihail Apostolov's detachment. In 1902 he went to Sofia and participated in meetings of the representation abroad. In 1903 he took part in the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising.

After the war, in 1912, he volunteered for the Macedonian-Adrianople Volunteer Corps during the First Balkan War. In 1919 he addressed the fate of Gevgelija and Strumitsa after their loss by Bulgaria and settled in Gorna Dzhumaya.

Manasiev remained active in public life, holding various administrative and educational positions, including secretary of the District School Inspectorate. In the post-war years he also belonged to IMRO's so-called Auxiliary Organisation, which performed administrative and judicial functions in Pirin Macedonia.