Hajduk Georgi Zimbilev

Georgi Zimbilev, known as Zimbil or Zyumbyul the Voivode, was a Bulgarian hajduk and revolutionary, an active participant in the national liberation movement.

He was born in 1847 in the village of Gorno Brodi, now Ano Vrontou, Greece. His father was a hajduk, and Georgi followed in his footsteps, becoming a hajduk in Kosta Kuketo's detachment. He participated in the Russo-Turkish War in the Nevrokop region. During this period he became known by the nicknames "Zimbil" and "Zyumbyul the Voivode".

In 1880, Georgi Zimbilev carried out an operation in Gorno Brodi, burning Greek books and requiring supporters of the Greek cause to swear before an icon of Saints Cyril and Methodius that they would not obstruct Bulgarian schools and worship in Church Slavonic. In response, the authorities sent the Circassian Hadzhi Yusuf with 70 men, who arrested the voivode's relatives and other revolutionaries from the village. Many were tortured and received severe sentences.

In 1882, following a betrayal, Georgi Zimbilev participated in an ambush against Hadzhi Yusuf and managed to destroy his entire group of 13 Circassians.

In 1883, after returning to the Serres region, Zimbilev was surrounded by 500 regular Ottoman soldiers, irregulars and forcibly conscripted Bulgarians. Much of his detachment died in the battle, including his brother Dimitar. Wounded, Georgi Zimbilev managed to withdraw into the Bozdag Mountains.

At the end of his life, Georgi Zimbilev was killed following betrayal. There are different accounts of his death, but according to one he was killed by Greeks at the Monastery of St John the Forerunner near the village of Lakos. His name is celebrated in folklore.

Georgi Zimbilev was married to a daughter of Hadzhi Dimko Hadzhiivanov and sister of Dimo Hadzhidimov.