He was born to a poor family in Kruševo (Aromanian: Crushuva) in the Ottoman Empire (now North Macedonia). Guli 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, as part of a rebel squad of the revolutionary movement against the Ottoman Empire, led by Adam Kalmikov. He was captured and exiled to eastern Anatolia for a period of eight years, seven years of which were spent in the prison in Trabzon. In 1895, he again returned to Kruševo and became a member of IMARO. From this time on, he was fully committed to the autonomy of Macedonia from Turkish rule. Between 1897 and 1902 he was again in Sofia, where he also held an eating house.
Pitu Guli and his squad in 1903. Source: Bulgarian Archives State Agency
In March 1903, he began commanding a revolutionary squad, crossing the Bulgarian-Ottoman border heading for Kruševo. From April to August 1903, he trained and prepared his irregulars for the upcoming Ilinden Uprising. He died in Kruševo, defending the Kruševo Republic.
Nikola Gulev (Lakia Guli), IMRO revolutionary and one of the people closest to Todor Alexandrov. He was arrested by the police of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and died in custody after being tortured in 1924.[9]
Pitu Guli is a national hero in North Macedonia and Bulgaria, and remembered as having fought heroically at Mečkin Kamen (Bear's Rock) near Kruševo, where he was killed during the Ilinden Uprising in defense of the MacedonianKruševo Republic.[1] A Macedonian Partisan Brigade was named after him.[1] The Macedonian partisan Kuzman Josifovski took the alias "Pitu" after him.[11] He is also celebrated in folk songs and poetry throughout the region of Macedonia, being mentioned in the national anthem of North Macedonia ("Denes nad Makedonija", "Today over Macedonia").[12] An Aromanian-language song about him, Cãnticlu al Pitu Guli ("The Song of Pitu Guli"), has also been composed.[13][14]
Notes
^Alternative spellings of his name are Pito (Пито) and Gule (Гуле) or Gulev (Гулев).
^ abcBrown, K. (2003) The Past in Question: Modern Macedonia and the Uncertainties of Nation (Princeton: Princeton University Press); pp. 196–198, ISBN0-691-09995-2
^Aromanian consciousness was not developed until the late 19th century, and was influenced by the rise of Romanian national movement. As result, wealthy, urbanized Ottoman Vlachs were culturally hellenised during 17-19th century and some of them bulgarized during the late 19th and early 20th. century. Raymond Detrez, 2014, Historical Dictionary of Bulgaria, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN1442241802, p. 520.
^Коста Църнушанов, Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него, Университетско изд. "Св. Климент Охридски", София, 1992, стр. 132.
^Тодор Балкански, Даниела Андрей, Големите власи сред българите, Знак 94, ISBN9548709082, 1996, стр. 60-70.
^Thede Kahl, Istoria aromânilor, Biblioteca de istorie, Colecția Sens; Tritonic, 2006, ISBN9737330412, p. 123.
^Andrew Rossos, Macedonia and the Macedonians: A History, Hoover Press, 2013, ISBN081794883X, p. 105.
^Philip Jowett, Armies of the Balkan Wars 1912–13: The priming charge for the Great War, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012, ISBN184908419X, p. 21.
^Македоно-одринското опълчение 1912-1913 г. Личен състав, Главно управление на архивите, 2006, стр. 190.
^Македонска енциклопедија, МАНУ, Скопје, 2009, стр. 415-416.
^Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia, Dimitar Bechev, Scarecrow Press, 2009, ISBN0810862956, p. 91.
^Roumen Dontchev Daskalov; Diana Mishkova, Entangled Histories of the Balkans - Volume Two: Transfers of Political Ideologies and Institutions (2013), Balkan Studies Library, BRILL, ISBN9004261915, p. 536.
^Pål Kolstø, Strategies of Symbolic Nation-building in South Eastern Europe, Routledge, 2016, ISBN1317049365, p. 188.
