View source for Boris Drangov

{{Short description|Bulgarian colonel and warfare pedagogue}}
[[File:BASA-1735K-1-465-1-Boris Drangov-enhanced.jpg|right|thumb|Boris Drangov (1872–1917)]]
'''Boris Stoyanov Drangov''' ({{lang-bg|Борис Стоянов Дрангов}}; {{lang-mk|Борис Стојанов Дрангов}}; 15 March 1872 – 26 May 1917) was a [[Bulgarian Army]] [[military officer|officer]] and [[warfare]] pedagogue.

== Biography ==
Drangov was born in [[Skopje]] in [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]-ruled [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] (today the capital of [[North Macedonia]]), to the family of a rich timber merchant. He graduated from the local Bulgarian Pedagogical School. In 1891, he enrolled in the [[Vasil Levski National Military University|Military School]] in the capital of [[Principality of Bulgaria]] – [[Sofia]]. After a conflict with an officer, he was dispatched to [[Plovdiv]] in 1894; in the town, Drangov met his future wife. A few months later, his punishment was overturned and he continued his education at the Military School and was promoted to second lieutenant in 1895. In 1899, he became a first lieutenant.

During the [[Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising]] of 1903, Drangov left the [[Bulgarian Army]] to arrive in Macedonia. There, he assembled an armed detachment of 120 men which fought the Ottomans in the [[Kratovo, Macedonia|Kratovo]] region. After the uprising's suppression, Drangov returned to the army and was promoted to [[Rittmeister|rotmistar]] (cavalry captain). He studied at the [[General Staff Academy (Imperial Russia)|Imperial Russian General Staff Academy]] in [[Saint Petersburg]]; he graduated with honours in 1907 and returned to Bulgarian service. Promoted to major in 1910, he became a lecturer of [[military tactics]] at the Military School in Sofia.

During the [[First Balkan War]] of 1912–1913, Drangov headed a brigade on the Thracian front, defeating the Ottomans at [[Çatalca]] and during the [[Battle of Adrianople (1913)|Siege of Adrianople]]. During the [[Second Balkan War]], Drangov fought the Serbs at Bublyak Peak. In February 1915, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel.

With the outbreak of [[World War I]], Drangov was named as the head of a regiment of [[11th Macedonian Infantry Division]] consisting mainly of untrained [[Ethnic Macedonians in Bulgaria|Macedonians from Bulgaria]] volunteers. Under his training, the regiment turned into an efficient unit and fought at Kalimanci, [[Kočani]] and [[Štip]]. He also fought at the [[Romania]]n front in [[Dobruja]] before he was dispatched back to Macedonia, where his unit guarded the [[Crna River (Vardar)|River Crna]] meander. He was wounded during artillery shelling on 26 May 1917 and died of his wounds the same evening.

Boris Drangov was interred in the Saint Demetrius Church's yard in Skopje. After the war his remains were moved by the Serbian authorities to a common cemetery. Drangov was posthumously promoted to colonel by the Bulgarian Army.

== Family ==
Drangov's wife Rayna was one of the founders and an active member of the Macedonian Women's Union. His son Kiril was a prominent activist of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, who was killed by the communist authorities in Bulgaria after the Second World War. His grandson, Boris, graduated from the [[Sofia Theological Seminary]] in 1976 and was invited to Toronto to head the [[List_of_Eastern_Orthodox_churches_in_Toronto#Bulgarian_Eastern_Orthodox_Diocese_of_the_USA,_Canada,_and_Australia|Macedono-Bulgarian St. George Orthodox Church]]. After the fall of communism, his granddaughter Rayna was among the founders of [[VMRO – Bulgarian National Movement|VMRO-SMD]] in Sofia.

==Honours==
Three villages in Bulgaria bear Boris Drangov's name: [[Drangovo, Kardzhali Province]], [[Drangovo, Blagoevgrad Province]] and [[Drangovo, Plovdiv Province]]. [[Drangov Peak]] in the [[Breznik Heights]] on [[Greenwich Island]], [[Antarctica]], was also named after him.<ref>[https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/scar/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=134705 Drangov Peak.] SCAR [[Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica]]</ref>

==References==
<references />

==Literature==
* Шишков, К., ''Полковник Борис Дрангов&nbsp;— избрани произведения'', Военно издателство, София, 1985.
* Шишков, К., ''Преподавателят майор Борис Дрангов.'', „Военнисторически сборник“, 1985, № 5.
* Недев, Светлозар, ''Командването на българската войска през войните за национално обединение'', Военноиздателски комплекс „Свети Георги Победоносец“, София, 1993, стр. 181.
* ''Борис Дрангов. Сборник материали и научни изследвания''. София, 1993.
* Карнфилов, Ефрем. ''Борис Дрангов'' в: Ефрем Каранфилов, „Българи“, София, 1980.
* Узунов, Христо. ''Полковник Борис Дрангов'', „Армейски преглед“, 1986, №10.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930180646/http://www.segabg.com/online/article.asp?issueId=656&sectionid=17&id=00001 Sega newspaper of 8 November 2005]

{{Bulgaria in World War I}}

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[[Category:1872 births]]
[[Category:1917 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Skopje]]
[[Category:Bulgarian military personnel of the Balkan Wars]]
[[Category:Bulgarian military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Bulgarian military personnel killed in World War I]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Bravery]]
[[Category:Bulgarian revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Macedonian Bulgarians]]