Revolutionary Father Hariton

Father Hariton, or Hariton (Stefan) Stanchev Halachev, was a Bulgarian revolutionary known for participating in the April Uprising. He was born in Gabrovo between 1830 and 1835. After completing primary school in his native town, he trained in slipper-making. He joined the Transfiguration Monastery near Tarnovo, where he became a monk, deacon and hieromonk.

In 1866, at the request of the ecclesiastical authorities and by order of the Tarnovo district governor, Farhi Bey, Father Hariton was exiled to Maglizh Monastery in the Kazanlak region, where he remained until 1870. He became known for a fiery and rebellious character while also helping advance the revolutionary cause in the region.

Father Hariton served as a priest in various villages, including in the Babadag region of northern Dobruja, where he defended Bulgarian peasants from Turkish aghas, bandits and Circassians.

In the summer of 1875 he led a small detachment in the Tulcea region. After the failure of the Stara Zagora Uprising in the autumn of 1875, Father Hariton crossed into Romania.

In March 1876 he secretly crossed the Danube at Svishtov and headed towards the district centre. He actively participated in preparations for the April Uprising. Father Hariton took command of a detachment of about 200 insurgents from the western part of the Tarnovo Revolutionary District.

On 29 April 1876, near Dryanovo Monastery, the detachment was surprised by Turkish troops and irregulars. Father Hariton and the insurgents barricaded themselves inside the monastery and defended it for nine days, until 7 May 1876.

On 1 May 1876, Father Hariton was blinded in an accident while making rifle cartridges when gunpowder ignited. On the final day of the battle, he said farewell to the insurgents and died fighting, still holding a weapon.