Voivode Kosta Diminski

Kosta Penin Diminski was born in the village of Martinovo, formerly known as Vlashko Selo, in north-western Bulgaria during the first half of the 19th century. He began his revolutionary activities as a member of Tocho Voivode of Chiprovtsi’s detachment and later went on to lead Panayot Hitov’s detachment in Kragujevac. He actively participated in the struggle for Bulgaria’s freedom as a member of the First and Second Bulgarian Legions in Belgrade.

According to Panayot Hitov’s own memoirs, Kosta Diminski was the detachment’s voivode. He and Hitov later agreed that Hitov would take over its leadership, while Diminski would become standard-bearer and deputy voivode.

Kosta Penin Diminski became a hajduk because of his rebellious nature. One of the incidents that forced him to leave his home village occurred when he cut off the tails of Turkish tax collectors’ horses and cut their saddle straps. This prevented them from continuing their journey to Chiprovtsi and spared Kosta’s village the Turks’ anger. However, the Turks ordered the local authorities to capture him, so he fled to Serbia and joined Tocho Voivode’s detachment, with which he pursued hajduk activities for several years.

In 1861, Kosta and his detachment fought a successful engagement at Karvave Bare, defeating their opponents. That same year, his detachment was held in reserve during the activities of the First Bulgarian Legion, ready to march to Bulgaria. He continued to participate actively in the revolutionary struggle for about fifteen years, assembling his own company and fighting numerous battles for Bulgaria’s freedom. Kosta Penin Diminski met a tragic end in combat with the Turks in 1876, dying in the struggle to liberate his homeland.