Revolutionary Bacho Kiro

Kiro Petrov Zanev, known as Bacho Kiro, was a Bulgarian teacher, man of letters, historian, community cultural activist and folklorist, and an active participant in the Bulgarian national revolutionary movement. He was born on 7 July 1835 in Gorni Turcheta, now Byala Cherkva, in the Tarnovo region, into the family of the village cattle herder Petar Filev Zanev. He was left fatherless at six. He worked to help support his family and received his primary education in the village of Bebrovo.

In 1847 his mother sent him to Batoshevo Monastery, where he learnt to read and write. He subsequently taught in several villages and returned to Gorni Turcheta in 1857, teaching there until his death in 1876. His teaching career was associated with various villages, including Koyuvtsi, Musina, Mihaltsi and Vishograd.

Bacho Kiro became known as a prominent National Revival educator, highly respected among both the Bulgarian and Turkish populations. He introduced the monitorial method, teaching charts and the "Fish Primer". In 1869 he established Bulgaria's first village community cultural centre, called "Selska Lyubov" (Village Love). In 1870 he created Bulgaria's first village community and school theatre. He wrote poems dedicated to Bulgaria's freedom and called for revolt.

In 1864, Bacho Kiro participated in driving the Turkish bishop Gregory out of Tarnovo. In February 1872 he took part in founding the Byala Cherkva Local Revolutionary Committee, and in 1876 he organised a detachment of more than 100 brave men in Byala Cherkva that participated in the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising. Bacho Kiro played an important role in the battle against the Turkish army at Dryanovo Monastery in May 1876. After the detachment was defeated and the monastery burned, he was betrayed, arrested and subsequently hanged.