# Filip Totyu > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Filip_Totyu > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Filip_Totyu.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filip_Totyu > Source revision: 1323660279 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) [[File:Filip Totyu-zname.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Flag of Filip Totyu's band bearing a [Bulgarian coat of arms](/source/coat_of_arms_of_Bulgaria) and the inscription "Freedom or death"]] '''Todor Todorov Topalov''' (or '''Topalski''') ({{langx|bg|Тодор Тодоров Топалов}} or Топалски; 1830-23 March 1907), better known under the pseudonym '''Filip Totyu''' (Филип Тотю), was a [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria)n revolutionary of the [Bulgarian National Revival](/source/Bulgarian_National_Revival) period and the ''[voivoda](/source/voivoda)'' of an armed band of volunteers. Totyu was born in the hamlet of Gartsite, today part of the village of [Voneshta Voda](/source/Voneshta_Voda), near [Kilifarevo](/source/Kilifarevo), [Veliko Tarnovo Province](/source/Veliko_Tarnovo_Province), to the family of a cattle dealer. He studied in [Tarnovo](/source/Veliko_Tarnovo) in 1840 and engaged in trade after 1842. Around 1850, he had a conflict with the [Ottoman](/source/Ottoman_Empire) authorities which forced him to flee into the [Balkan Mountains](/source/Balkan_Mountains) with a group of friends and become a ''[hajduk](/source/hajduk)''. His band's area of operation were the regions of Tarnovo, [Elena](/source/Elena_Municipality) and later also [Nova Zagora](/source/Nova_Zagora). Although he was captured and interned in the Tarnovo and [Sliven](/source/Sliven) prisons several times, he managed to escape and return to his hajduk activities, leading to the Ottomans announcing a big reward [for his head](/source/Headhunting). After escaping the Sliven prison in 1863, Totyu moved to [Wallachia](/source/Wallachia), where he actually adopted that name to cover his tracks. thumb|260px|left| Actions of the rebel detachments of Panayot Hitov and Filip Totyu in 1867. In Wallachia, he got to know [Georgi Rakovski](/source/Georgi_Rakovski) and came to realize the need for an organized struggle against the Ottoman rule. On 17 May 1867 he crossed the [Danube](/source/Danube) at [Svishtov](/source/Svishtov) with a band of 35, with the intention reach the Balkan Mountains and join forces with [Panayot Hitov](/source/Panayot_Hitov)'s band which had moved into Bulgaria on 29 April. In Svishtov, the band was joined by several other volunteers and proceeded to move southward. In a forest at [Varbovka](/source/Varbovka), near [Sevlievo](/source/Sevlievo), however, Totyu's detachment was surrounded by Ottoman military units and [bashi-bazouk](/source/bashi-bazouk)s, with one volunteer reportedly facing 60 Turks. During the night, the survivors fled into the mountains, where, near what is today [Botev Peak](/source/Botev_Peak), Totyu and four of his men managed to meet Hitov's remaining forces and head to [Serbia](/source/Serbia), where they participated in the Second [Bulgarian Legion](/source/Bulgarian_Legion). Afterwards Totyu lived in Romania, constantly persecuted and arrested and forced to move to [Russia](/source/Russia), where he lived for longer and received a state pension. In 1875, at the time of the [Herzegovinian rebellion](/source/Herzegovina_Uprising_(1875-1878)), [Hristo Botev](/source/Hristo_Botev) was sent to Southern Russia by the [Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee](/source/Bulgarian_Revolutionary_Central_Committee) to collect funds and recruit Bulgarian emigres and Filip Totyu in particular. He agreed to participate in a Bulgarian uprising and left for Romania, but the suppression of the [Stara Zagora Uprising](/source/Stara_Zagora_Uprising) meant his idea to aid the revolutionaries with a band was thwarted. In 1876 he aided the [Serbs](/source/Serbs) in the Serbo-Turkish conflict and invaded northwestern Bulgaria with his detachment, but he was repulsed and returned to Russia, only to participate in the [Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78](/source/Russo-Turkish_War_(1877-1878)), which led to the [Liberation of Bulgaria](/source/Liberation_of_Bulgaria). After the Liberation, Totyu lived in the village of [Dve Mogili](/source/Dve_Mogili), [Rousse Province](/source/Rousse_Province), where he engaged in agriculture and received a small military pension. He died on 22 March 1907.{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Filip_Totyu_Death_Certificate.jpg|title=English: The death certificate of the Bulgarian revolutionary leader Filip Totyu, found in the Bulgarian national archive - Ruse section|date=March 24, 1907|via=Wikimedia Commons}} Totyo's home in Voneshta Voda and his last home in Dve Mogili are both museums, dedicated to him. == References == {{Reflist}} * {{cite book |last = Бакалов |first = Георги |author2=Милен Куманов |title = Електронно издание – История на България |publisher = Труд, Сирма |year = 2003 |location = София |isbn = 954528613X |language = Bulgarian }} {{Veliko Tarnovo}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Totyu, Filip}} Category:1830 births Category:1907 deaths Category:People from Veliko Tarnovo Category:Bulgarian revolutionaries Category:19th-century Bulgarian people --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Filip Totyu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filip_Totyu) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filip_Totyu?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.