Boris Stoyanov Drangov (Bulgarian:Борис Стоянов Дрангов;Macedonian:Борис Стојанов Дрангов; 15 March 1872 – 26 May 1917) was aBulgarian Armyofficer andwarfare pedagogue.
Drangov was born inSkopje inOttoman-ruledMacedonia (today the capital ofNorth Macedonia), to the family of a rich timber merchant. He graduated from the local Bulgarian Pedagogical School. In 1891, he enrolled in theMilitary School in the capital ofPrincipality of Bulgaria –Sofia. After a conflict with an officer, he was dispatched toPlovdiv 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 theIlinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising of 1903, Drangov left theBulgarian Army to arrive in Macedonia. There, he assembled an armed detachment of 120 men which fought the Ottomans in theKratovo region. After the uprising's suppression, Drangov returned to the army and was promoted torotmistar (cavalry captain). He studied at theImperial Russian General Staff Academy inSaint Petersburg; he graduated with honours in 1907 and returned to Bulgarian service. Promoted to major in 1910, he became a lecturer ofmilitary tactics at the Military School in Sofia.
During theFirst Balkan War of 1912–1913, Drangov headed a brigade on the Thracian front, defeating the Ottomans atÇatalca and during theSiege of Adrianople. During theSecond Balkan War, Drangov fought the Serbs at Bublyak Peak. In February 1915, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel.
With the outbreak ofWorld War I, Drangov was named as the head of a regiment of11th Macedonian Infantry Division consisting mainly of untrainedMacedonian Bulgarian volunteers. Under his training, the regiment turned into an efficient unit and fought at Kalimanci,Kočani andŠtip. He also fought at theRomanian front inDobruja before he was dispatched back to Macedonia, where his unit guarded theRiver 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.
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 theSofia Theological Seminary in 1976 and was invited to Toronto to head theMacedono-Bulgarian St. George Orthodox Church. After the fall of communism, his granddaughter Rayna was among the founders ofVMRO-SMD in Sofia.
Three villages in Bulgaria bear Boris Drangov's name:Drangovo, Kardzhali Province,Drangovo, Blagoevgrad Province andDrangovo, Plovdiv Province.Drangov Peak in theBreznik Heights onGreenwich Island,Antarctica, was also named after him.[1]
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