Voivode Shteryu Pevtichev

Shterion Pevtichev, also known as Shteryu Voivode or Shteryu the Hajduk, was a hajduk leader from Kurukyoy. Legends about his life, exploits and death circulated in the Varna region.

According to these legends, Shteryu initially operated alone in the Bulasa-kara forest near his home village. Gradually, relatives and other people from his own and neighbouring villages joined him. His detachment grew and operated from Sarnena Sredna Gora to the Black Sea.

Shteryu Pevtichev robbed only Turks, in response to their robberies and killings of Bulgarians. With the money he took, he bought oxen for poor Bulgarians and helped them pay their taxes. His sister, Zafira, brought him food and clothing. During the Crimean War, the Varna region suffered severely from deserters who lived by robbery. One of them, Solak Mustafa, robbed people with particular violence. In an encounter with him, Shteryu Pevtichev was severely wounded and eventually killed. His body was beheaded and displayed on a stake at a threshing floor in the village of Goritsa, where the inhabitants were forced to view it, and was then burnt.

Other versions of Shteryu Voivode’s life describe him operating as early as 1837–1838 with his companion Kara Ivan Voivode, crossing into Dobruja and reaching the forests of Babadag. They subsequently joined Dimitar Kalachliyata, and after his death Shteryu took command of the company. In 1860, the detachment was defeated, Shteryu died in the fighting, and his companions were captured and taken to Shumen and Ruse for trial. The members’ names are known from the records of the Shumen council, and Shteryu Voivode’s death is confirmed by a telegram from the governor of the Danube Vilayet to the district governor of Shumen.