Revolutionary Kocho Chistemenski

Kocho (Nikolcho) Georgiev Chistemenski, also known as Chestemenski, was a Bulgarian revolutionary and active participant in the April Uprising. He and his family were among the defenders of Perushtitsa in the Church of the Holy Archangel. Realising that they could not escape the Ottoman siege, Kocho Chestemenski resorted to a tragic act: he killed his wife and daughter and then killed himself to prevent his family from falling into Ottoman hands.

Born in the village of Dinkata in the Pazardzhik district, Kocho Chestemenski moved with his parents to Pazardzhik and later settled in Plovdiv. In 1870 he became a member of the local revolutionary committee, although he had never attended school. A shoemaker by trade, he educated himself and learned to read and write.

He actively participated in the Stara Zagora Uprising in 1875 and came under Ottoman surveillance after its failure. This forced him to leave Plovdiv for Koprivshtitsa. In early 1876 he returned to Plovdiv and resumed his participation in the revolutionary committee, again using his home as a revolutionary meeting place.

During the April Uprising, Chestemenski participated in an unsuccessful attempt to set Plovdiv on fire. His family moved to Perushtitsa, where he took part in defending the town. Spas Ginov, a revolutionary and fellow townsman of Chestemenski, undertook the same tragic act: he killed himself after first killing his wife and daughter. After him, Kocho Chestemenski did the same, carrying out this terrible act to protect his loved ones from the enemy and forced conversion to Islam. This heroic gesture was repeated by other insurgents from Perushtitsa.