Pitu Guli

Pitu Guli (Cyrillic: Питу Гули) (1865, Kruševo — 1903, Kruševo, Ottoman Empire) was an ethnic Aromanian revolutionary in Ottoman Macedonia, a local leader of what is commonly referred to as the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO).

Born to poor family, he demonstrated an independent and rebellious nature early in life. He left his home in Macedonia at the age of 17 in search of wealth in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. In 1885, he returned to Macedonia, formed a rebel squad and joined other elements of the revolutionary movement against the Ottoman Empire.

Upon his return to Macedonia, Pitu was sentenced to eight years imprisonment, seven years of which were spent in the prison in Trabzon, Turkey. In 1895, he again returned to Kruševo and became a member of IMRO. From this time on he was fully committed to the independence of Macedonia from Turkish rule. In 1902, he once again traveled to Bulgaria where he met with Toma Davidov. On his return to Macedonia, he was injured at the border and was forced to turn back.

In March 1903, fully committed to the Macedonian Independence movement, he began commanding a revolutionary squad, crossing the Bulgarian-Ottoman border heading for Kruševo. From April to August 1903, he trained and prepared his troops for the upcoming Ilinden Uprising.

Pitu Guli is a national hero in the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and remembered as having fought heroically at Mečkin Kamen (Bear's Rock) near Kruševo during the Ilinden Uprising in defense of the Kruševo Republic. He is also celebrated in folk songs and poetry throughout the region of Macedonia, being mentioned in the national anthem of the Republic of Macedonia (Today over Macedonia).

References

• Brown, K. (2003) The Past in Question: Modern Macedonia and the Uncertainties of Nation (Princeton: Princeton University Press) ISBN 0-691-09995-2

Notes

1. IMRO is the most commonly used name for the organization in which Pitu Guli participated, although it is certain that in his active days, the organization had a different name. What that name was is a matter of considerable dispute between historians from Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia. According to Bulgarian historians the name of the organization from 1896 to 1902 was Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees (BMARC), and it was meant only for ethnic Bulgarians, while according to Macedonian historians the name of the organization was Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (SMARO) from 1896 to 1905, and it was meant for all peoples from the region of Macedonia. See Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization for more details.