Dimitar Blagoev Nikolov (, ; 14 June 1856 – 7 May 1924) was a Bulgarian political leader and philosopher. He was the founder of the Bulgarian left-wing political movement and of the first social-democratic party in the Balkans, the Marxist Bulgarian Social Democratic Party. Blagoev was also an important figure in the early history of Russian Marxism, and later founded and led the Bulgarian Communist Party. He was a prominent proponent of ideas for the establishment of a Balkan Federation. He is usually regarded and self-identified as a Bulgarian, and occasionally as a Macedonian Slav. Biography Early years and education Blagoev was born in the village of Zagorichani in the region of Macedonia (today Vasiliada in Agioi Anargyroi, Kastoria, Greece), at that time part of the Ottoman Empire. In his youth he was influenced by the atmosphere of the Bulgarian National Revival. In his memoirs written in 1922, Blagoev mentions that he was born in a pure Bulgarian village, receiving his national idea by Bulgarian agitators and as a result he was educated in nationalist spirit. He learned consequently in Bulgarian Exarchate's schools in Istanbul (1873–1874), Adrianople (1874–1875), Gabrovo (1875–1876) and Stara Zagora (1876–1877). As a student in Gabrovo he supported the cause of the April uprising, and participated on its preparation. During the Russo-Turkish War, he supported the activity of the opalchentsi and the Russian Army. Later he studied at the Odessa Realschule from 1878 to 1880. In autumn 1880, Blagoev enrolled in Saint Petersburg University. In the Russian capital, he was originally influenced by the populist ideas of Lavrov those of the French anarchist Proudhon. But by the autumn of 1883, reading the first volume of Das Kapital, by Karl Marx, and works by the German socialist Lassalle, and pamphlet Socialism and the Political Struggle written by the exiled Russian Marxist Georgi Plekhanov had converted him to Marxism. In 1884, he formed the first Marxist group to operate within Russia, which was known as the Blagoev Group. In 1885, the group produced a newspaper, "Rabochii" (Worker), Russia's first Marxist publication. Also in 1885, it aligned with Plekhanov's Emancipation of Labour Group, based in Switzerland. In 1883, Blagoev met and married the teacher, writer, and women's activist Vela Blagoeva (née Victoria Atanasova Zhivkova) with whom he would have four children: Stela, Natalia, Vladimir and Dimitur. Return to Bulgaria Blagoev was arrested on 1 March 1885, and extradited to Bulgaria,