Zahari Stoyanov

Dzhendo Stoyanov Dzhedev was born circa 1850 in Medven. Working as a shepherd in Dobruja, he taught himself to read, joining revolutionary committees in Ruse and Stara Zagora. During the 1876 April Uprising, Stoyanov was an assistant to Panayot Volov and Georgi Benkovski, participating in the legendary 'Flying Detachment' across the Sredna Gora mountains.

Surviving Ottoman capture, Stoyanov authored Zapiski po balgarskite vastaniya (Memoirs of the Bulgarian Uprisings, 1884–1892), a vivid masterpiece of historical journalism written with raw wit and psychological drama. As Chairman of the Bulgarian Parliament, he was the chief political architect of the historic 1885 Unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia.