Dimitar Obshti

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Dimitar Obshti, born around 1835 in Gjakova, was a Bulgarian revolutionary who fought against the Ottoman Empire for Bulgaria, Serbia, Crete, and Italy’s Risorgimento. In 1862 he joined the first Bulgarian Legion in Belgrade, trained as a soldier, and met Vasil Levski. They fought Ottomans in Serbia. In 1868 the Serbian authorities disbanded the legion and expelled its members. Obshti then joined Garibaldi's forces and later took part in the Cretan uprising (1866–1869). In 1869 he helped found the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee (BRCC) in Bucharest. In June 1871 he went to Ottoman Bulgaria as Levski’s deputy, but his bold actions hindered their work. He led an assassination attempt against deacon Paisius, a priest suspected of treason. In September 1872 he organized the Arabakonak mail robbery to fund BRCC activities. The Ottomans arrested many BRCC members, including Obshti and Levski. Obshti publicly spoke in court about BRCC, helping to unravel the network. He was sentenced to death and hanged in Sofia on January 10, 1873; Levski was executed about a month later.