Georgi Izmirliev

A participant in the anti-Ottoman April Uprising of 1876, he was an assistant to Stefan Stambolov and a military commander of the Tarnovo revolutionary district.

[1] Izmirliev was born in the city of Gorna Dzhumaya in the northeast of Ottoman-ruled Macedonia (today Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria).

In the imperial capital, Izmirliev studied at the Galatasaray High School and received a scholarship from the Bulgarian foundation Prosveshtenie ("Enlightenment").

After his graduation, Izmirliev remained in Istanbul as a teacher and public figure; he participated in Prosveshtenie activities, spread newspapers and gave talks.

Izmirliev crossed the Danube into the Bulgarian lands on 13 January 1876 and met with Tonka Obretenova in Rousse before arriving in Gorna Oryahovitsa, which had been designated the centre of the revolutionary district.