Vlado Chernozemski (; born Velichko Dimitrov Kerin (); October 19, 1897 – October 9, 1934) was a BulgarianIstoricheski pregled, Books 1-6, Bŭlgarsko istorichesko druzhestvo, Institut za istoria (Bŭlgarska akademia na naukite), 1987, str. 49. Stefan Troebst,"Historical Politics and Historical “Masterpieces” in Macedonia before and after 1991 ", New Balkan Politics, Issue 6, 2003: "... the suicide-assassin from VMRO, Vlado Cernozemski, who, on orders from Mihajlov and his ethno-national VMRO, which was defined as Bulgarian, killed the Yugoslav king Alexander I Karadzordzevic and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Louis Bareau in Marseilles in 1934." The national question in Yugoslavia: origins, history, politics, Cornell Paperbacks: Slavic studies, history, political science, Ivo Banac, Cornell University Press, 1988, , p. 326. Crown of thorns, Author Stéphane Groueff, Publisher Madison Books, 1987, p. 224. Violette Nozière: a story of murder in 1930s Paris, Author Sarah C. Maza, Publisher University of California Press, 2011, , p. 230. Shadows on the Mountain: The Allies, the Resistance, and the Rivalries That Doomed WWII Yugoslavia, Marcia Kurapovna, John Wiley and Sons, 2009, , p. 157. Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900-1996, Nationalisms Across the Globe, Author Chris Kostov, Publisher Peter Lang, 2010, SBN 3034301960, p. 139. Croatian Radical Separatism and Diaspora Terrorism During the Cold War, Mate Nikola Tokić, Purdue University Press, 2020, , p. 46. The Oxford Handbook of the History of Terrorism, Carola Dietze and Claudia Verhoeven, Oxford University Press, 2022, , p. 544. revolutionary and assassin of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.
He is also known as "Vlado the Chauffeur". He killed two notable Bulgarian politicians, communist Dimo Hadzhidimov, and IMRO member Naum Tomalevski. Chernozemski trained a group of three Ustaše to assassinate Alexander of Yugoslavia, but eventually assassinated Alexander himself in 1934 in Marseille, and was killed afterwards. French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou was also killed by a stray bullet fired by French police during the scuffle following the attack.
Croat and Macedonian Bulgarian circles celebrated his act. For murdering King Alexander I, Chernozemski was posthumously declared the most dangerous terrorist in Europe. Chernozemski is considered a hero in Bulgaria.Izvestia na Natsionalnia istoricheski muzeĭ, Tomove 16–19, Natsionalen istoricheski muzeĭ, Izdatelstvo Nauka i izkustvo, 2006, str. 129. The official historiography in North Macedonia regards him as a controversial Bulgarian.Владимир Георгиев-Черноземски или вистинското име Величко Димитров-Керин (с.Каменица, Велинградско, Бугарија, 19 октомври 1897г.), учесник во македонското револуционерно движење, по националност Бугарин; во 1922 година се вклучил во редовите на ВМРО и бил четник кај војводите Иван Јанев-Брло и Панчо Михајлов; во времето на Иван Михајлов извршил голем број на атентати врз македонски дејци, а во 1932 година бил испратен од страна на ВМРО во логорот "Јанка Пуста" во Унгарија, како инструктор на хрватските усташи. For more see: Виолета Ачкоска и Никола Жежов, "Предавствата и атентатите во македонската историја". Издателство Макавеј, Скопје, 2003, стр. 221.Makedonska enciklopedija: M-Š , MANU, 2009, , p. 1621.
Early life Velichko Dimitrov Kerin was born in the village of Kamenitsa, then in the Principality of Bulgaria, now a quarter of the town of Velingrad. Иван Габеров, Нейко Ненчев, Съвременна българска енциклопедия, том 1, Издателство Елпис, 1993, p. 516. Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia, Dimitar Bechev, Scarecrow Press, 2009, , p. 40. Георги Марков и колектив, Алманах на българските национални движения след 1878 г. Академично издателство "Марин Дринов", Българска академия на науките, 2005, София, , pp. 372–373. Билярски, Цочо. Иван Михайлов в обектива на полиция, дипломация, разузнаване и преса. Университетско издателство Св. Климент Охридски. 2006, , p. 198. Branislav Gligorijević, Kralj Aleksandar Karađorđević: U evropskoj politici, Biblioteka Jazon, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, 2002, p. 286. Request by the Yugoslav Government Under Article 11, Paragraph 2, of the Covenant, C. 518. M. 234. 1934. VII. Series of League of Nations. p. 8. Les Shawр, Trial by slander: a background to the Independent State of Croatia, and an account of the Anti-Croatian Campaign in Australia, Harp Books, 1973, p. 54. François Broche, Assassinat de Alexandre Ier et Louis Barthou: Marseille, le 9 octobre 1934, Volume 3 of Crimes politiques, Balland, 1977, , p. 56. Roger Colombani, Jean René Laplayne, La Mort d'un roi: la vérité sur l'assassinat d'Alexandre de Yougoslavie, Histoire du XXe siècle, Albin Michel, 1971, p. 37. Петър Япов Никола Гешев, който не беше само полицай, Изток-Запад, 2002, , p. 100. His father, Dimitar Kerin, and his mother, Risa Baltadzieva, were both local peasants.According to birth certificate No 74 of 1897, issued by the Kamenitsa municipality Velichko Dimitrov Kerin was born in the village of Kamenitsa on October 19, 1897. He was baptized on October 26, 1897 in the church in the village of Kamenitsa and it is recorded in the church registry under No. 77 of 1897. His godfather was Trendafil Zltanov. His father Dimitar Velichkov Kerin was born in the village of Kamenitsa in 1873. His mother Risa Hristoskova Baltadzhieva is from the same village, born in 1875, died on 30 March 1911. For more information see: Митре Стаменов, Атентатът в Марсилия, Владо Черноземски. Живот, отдаден на Македония, (Издание на ВМРО-СМД, София, 1993), стр. 41; Билярски Цочо, Владо Черноземски и атентатът в Марсилия 1934 г., Сведения на Дирекция на полицията, Отдел политическа полиция за връзките на ВМРО с усташите и изпращането на Вл. Черноземски при д-р Анте Павелич. в-к "Труд”, 28 юни 1990 г., бр. 126., достъпно онлайн на "Сите българи заедно"; The document is kept in Bulgarian Central State Archive, file 370 K, inventory 6, archive unit 411, sheets 16-36. Copy. Machine typing.Петър Япов, Из дневниците на митрополит Андрей Велички. Марсилският атентат - 1934 г. Изток-Запад, 2002, , p. 23. He received primary education in his native village. His mother died when he was 14 years old and the young Kerin was induced to help his father feed the family along with his younger brother and two sisters. Chernozemski joined the military in Plovdiv. During World War I, he served in the engineer corps. After the war, he worked as a driver and watchmaker. As a youngster, he was prone to drinking alcohol, but later reformed and became a vegetarian. He married in 1919. In 1923, his daughter Latinka was born. In 1925, he divorced and remarried. He lived in Sofia until 1932. According to a conspiracy theory promoted by himself,Istoricheski pregled, tom 43, broeve 1–6, Bŭlgarsko istorichesko druzhestvo, Institut za istoriia (Bŭlgarska akademiia na naukite) str. 49. he was born in a village called Patrick near Štip, that was burned down by the Serbian army during the Second Balkan War, and was never restored.Гаджев, Ив., Иван Михайлов: отвъд легендите, Университетско издателство "Св. Климент Охридски", 2007, p. 180. His mother and father were therefore living in Bulgaria as refugees.Christowe Stoyan (1935). Heroes and Assassins (in English), p. 219.Гаджев, Ив., Иван Михайлов: отвъд легендите, Университетско издателство "Св. Климент Охридски", 2007, p. 179. He used different aliases and pseudonyms such as Vlado Georgiev Chernozemski, Peter Kelemen, Vlado the Chauffeur, Rudolph Suk, Vladimir Dimitrov Vladimirov etc.Крум Благов, Петдесетте най-големи атентата в българската история: Класация на най-важните заговори, покушения, саботажи и отвличания до 2000-та година, Репортер, 2000, стр. 154-155. Even his second wife did not know his real name or anything about his past.Георги Георгиев Марков, Камбаните бият сами: Насилие и политика в България 1919-1947, "Св. Георги Победоносец", 1994, стр. 108. There are no records of him in Bulgaria beyond 1932, but he was re-identified in 1934, after his death in France.Боян Драганов, Зад завесата на големите скандали, Ахат, 2008, , стр. 160.
Revolutionary activity
IMRO A legend describing Chernozemski as Vlado the Driver () appeared in Macedonia, since he worked for a company in Dupnitsa as a driver for a short time. In the early 1920s, he moved to Bansko, when the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) was re-established by Todor Alexandrov. Chernozemski joined the IMRO in 1922 in the unit of the voivode Ivan Barlyo. From 1923 to 1924, he was a member of Trayan Lakavishki's cheta. Chernozemski also entered the region of Vardar Macedonia with IMRO bands and participated in more than 15 skirmishes with Yugoslav police. He soon became one of the best marksmen in the organization, known for his courage, sangfroid and discipline.
Assassin of the IMRO
In the 1920s, IMRO took actions against the former left-wing activists, assassinating several of them after the assassination of Alexandrov. Ivan Mihailov assigned Chernozemski to assassinate MP Dimo Hadzhidimov, a member of the Communist Party of Bulgaria and former IMRO member, which he did so in 1924.Dimitar Bechev, Historical Dictionary of North Macedonia, Rowman & Littlefield, 2019, , p. 69. In the same year, Mihailov became the new leader of IMRO. Chernozemski was sentenced to death before being amnestied.
In 1927, Chernozemski proposed to IMRO's Central Committee to enter the main conference building of the League of Nations in Paris and detonate grenades attached to his person, in order to attract the attention of the world and generate publicity over the question of the Bulgarians in Macedonia, but his proposal was rejected."In 1927, Chernozemski proposed to the IMRO Central Committee that he would enter the main conference building of the League of Nations in Paris and detonate grenades attached to his person, in order to attract the attention of the world and generate publicity over the question of the Bulgarians in Macedonia, but his proposal was rejected." Dennis A. Pluchinsky, Anti-American Terrorism: From Eisenhower To Trump - A Chronicle Of The Threat And Response. Volume I, World Scientific, 2020, , p. 197. In 1929, IMRO and the Ustaše started cooperating, with the former training the latter.
In 1930, Chernozemski, following an order by Mihailov, assassinated another member of the IMRO, Naum Tomalevski, and his bodyguard. Tomalevski had been a prominent member of the IMRO and a rival to Ivan Mihailov for control of IMRO. On April 24, 1931, Chernozemski was sentenced by the Sofia District Court to life in prison. After the amnesty on January 5, 1932, he was released from the Sofia Central Prison. A week later, he went underground, and on July 15, 1932, he disappeared from Sofia.
Assassination of King Alexander