LEVSKI, VASIL

born July 6, 1837, Karlovo, Rumelia died Feb. 6, 1873, near Sofia byname of Vasil Ivanov Kunchev Bulgarian revolutionary leader in the struggle for liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. Initially a monk (185864), Vasil Kunchev soon dedicated himself to the work of freeing Bulgaria and for his courage was nicknamed Levski (Lionlike). Levski united the two legions of Bulgarian volunteers organized in Serbia (1862, 1868) but, disappointed in the Serbian government, decided to return to Bulgaria in order to organize an uprising. He introduced a new phase in the Bulgarian national movement by transferring revolutionary activity from abroad into the country itself. In 1869 in Bucharest, Levski, together with Lyuben Karavelov, organized the Bulgarian Central Revolutionary Committee, which established a network of agents (called apostles) in Bulgaria. In 1872, during one of his secret missions to Bulgaria, Levski was caught by the Turks and was later hanged.