Revolutionary Spas Sokolov

Spas Sokolov was born in Tulcea, Dobrudzha, in 1854. At just twenty-two he joined the staff of Botev's detachment. After Hristo Botev's death, Sokolov moved to Nikola Voynovski's force and then to Dimitar Ikonomov's group. During this period he and several other fighters fell into an ambush, were captured and taken to Orhanie and Sofia. At the Sofia trial he was accused of being one of the detachment's leaders and sentenced to death, but at the last moment his sentence was commuted to permanent exile and penal servitude on the island of Rhodes.

After the amnesty in 1878, Spas Sokolov returned to Bulgaria and was appointed governor of the Vratsa district. In 1895 he warned of electoral fraud and informed the writer Aleko Konstantinov, leading to the publication of the famous satirical sketch Put Out the Candles. Spas Sokolov also collaborated with IMRO, and meetings of the organisation were held in his home. His sons Atanas and Ivan served as officers in the Balkan Wars and the First World War, and both died.

During Prime Minister Vasil Radoslavov's cabinet (1913 – 1918), Sokolov participated in the commission seeking accountability, which played a role in the national catastrophe.