November 18 marks the 170th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Panov Semerdjiev - a revolutionary, a Turnovian, a fallen victim for the freedom of the Fatherland.
Ivan Panov Semerdjiev (Panovcheto) was born on November 18, 1854 in Tarnovo. After studying at the local class school, he went to Odessa, where he continued his education at the Theological Seminary. After his return, Ivan Panov began working as a teacher in Gorna Oryahovitsa at the Church of St. He started working in the church of St. George.
A peer of Stefan Stambolov, they resided at the same time and were friends in Odessa, returning to their native Tarnovo, each of them became involved in committee affairs and the April Uprising.
In 1875 Ivan Panov joined the revolutionary movement, taking part in the preparations for the Stara Zagora Uprising. In the spring of 1876 he was elected chairman of the local revolutionary committee in Gorna Oryahovitsa and a member of the district committee of the First Revolutionary District of Turnovo.
Ivan Panov Semerdjiev was responsible for Gorna Oryahovitsa and for the villages of Polikraishte, Yantra and Arbanassi, where he built revolutionary committees. He visited the villages of Tserova Koria, Kapinovo, Kovanloka, Prisovo, Dragizhevo and Zlataritsa.
Very often in his room, in the elementary school at St. George", secretly in the evenings meetings are held. Ivan Panov stands out as one of the most passionate revolutionaries, apostles. He developed great agitation and organizational activity in the preparation of the April Uprising. He managed to establish himself with his qualities, to gain popularity as a figure with a future in the revolutionary struggle.
Thanks to him, the local revolutionary committee in Gorna Oryahovitsa was built up and prepared for serious participation in the events of 1876 - with its numbers, the weapons, ammunition, uniforms, etc.
Ivan Panov died before the age of 22. After a betrayal, together with Georgi Izmirliev, he was captured and brought to Tarnovo prison. The extraordinary Turkish court sentenced him to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out on May 28, 1876 in the center of his hometown.
Hristo Panov Semerdjiev, the revolutionary's brother, later described and left in manuscript "Notes on the uprisings in the Tarnovo district and especially the one in 1876".
The fate of Ivan Panov Semerdjiev appeared to be predetermined by the role he played during the preparations, by the fact that in the days of the uprising itself he was captured wearing an insurgent uniform, ready for resistance. His face and figure as a 22 year old youth, his very demeanour separated him from the rest of the insurgents. The Bulgarian apostle is remembered by his contemporaries as one of the brightest figures of the uprising. His image also enters the songs dedicated to the events.
Sources used:
Radev, Ivan. History of Veliko Tarnovo XVIII-XIX centuries. Tarnovo, 2000, pp. 530-532.
Ivan Panov Semerdjiev. // Notable people of Tarnovo. - Sofia, 1985, pp. 72-73.
