Voivode Vasil Mutafov

Vasil Hadzhinakov Mutafov (spelt Васил хаджи Наковъ Мутафовъ before 1945) was a Bulgarian military officer and revolutionary, known as a voivode of the Macedonian Committee.

He was born in Shumen in 1868 into the family of the revolutionary Hadzhi Nano (Nako Mutafov) of Shumen, who volunteered in the Serbian–Turkish War of 1876 and served in the Bulgarian Volunteer Corps during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. He graduated with distinction from Shumen High School in 1887 and completed his studies at His Princely Highness’s Military School in Sofia in 1890. He subsequently served in various units and battalions, including the 5th Artillery Regiment and the fortress battalion in Shumen and Vidin. He was promoted to lieutenant.

In 1895, he helped prepare the campaign by revolutionary detachments and commanded the 160-strong Strumitsa Battalion. Vasil Mutafov fought in numerous engagements, including those near the villages of Karagyozli, Sushitsa and Gabrovo, where he was killed. On 7 July 1895, he fell in battle near the village of Debochitsa.

After his death in 1895, the poems he had written were published posthumously in 1942. The Macedonian Charitable Brotherhood in Shumen bears the name Lieutenant Mutafov.