Revolutionary Filip Totyu

Todor Todorov Stanchev, known as Filip Totyu, was a Bulgarian revolutionary and prominent figure in the Bulgarian national liberation movement during the nineteenth century.

In 1867, Georgi Rakovski designated Totyu a subordinate voivode under the Provisional Law for the People's Forest Detachments for the summer of 1867.

Totyu took command of a detachment of about 40 men and, following Rakovski's plan, crossed the Danube at Svishtov in May 1867 to investigate sentiment among the Bulgarians in the country. After a short delay near the town, the detachment hid in the Pustiya forest near the village of Varbovka after being betrayed by hunters. They were surrounded by hundreds of Ottoman irregulars and regular troops from Tarnovo, Sevlievo and Svishtov, leading to fierce battles.

After the detachment was defeated at Varbovka, Totyu and its surviving members withdrew into the Balkan Mountains, joined Panayot Hitov's detachment and from there headed to Serbia. These events drew European public attention to the Bulgarians' plight.

In 1868, Filip Totyu participated in the Second Bulgarian Legion under the leadership of Hadzhi Dimitar and Stefan Karadzha. He settled in Odesa, where he received a pension from the Russian government.

In 1875, the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee (BRCC) designated Totyu as voivode of a detachment in the Stara Zagora Uprising, but he failed to cross into Bulgaria because the uprising broke out prematurely and was suppressed. Instead, he returned to Russia and refused to lead the detachment members during the April Uprising of 1876, when Hristo Botev took his place.

Filip Totyu led a volunteer detachment in the Serbo-Turkish War and participated in the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation. Totyu's detachment used a tricolour flag, which became the First Bulgarian Tricolour in 1887. During his journey back to Odesa, he found himself in an unfortunate situation in Ploiești, where he became the victim of an attack and was sentenced to six years in prison in Romania.