12906 | 16 Jan. 2026 | 10:43
Lieutenant General Nikola Markov Ryaskov is one of the revolutionaries of Bulgaria, but he also devotes his life to military affairs. He participates in the April Uprising and the Liberation War.
He was born in Gabrovo on December 6, 1856, to the family of the tanner Marko Ryaskov, who transported weapons across the Danube for the squad of Stefan Karadzha, hidden between sheepskins purchased from Romania. He was captured and sentenced - he spent three years in the Vidin prison and in Diarbekir.
The family has another son, Iliya, who completes fourth grade at the Gabrovo Main School and drops out in order for his brother Nikola to study. Iliya Ryaskov is a member of the squad of Tsanko Dyustabanov, after it is dispersed, he goes into hiding, but is betrayed, captured and taken to the Tarnovo prison. The Liberation War saves him from a Turkish trial.
His brother Nikola Ryaskov is one of the five students who graduated from the first class of the Gabrovo Male School in 1875. As a student, he was among the Gabrovo conspirators who met with revolutionary Angel Kanchev in 1872. The Apostle trusted him with the task of going to Bucharest for the national cause. Ryaskov gave him 40 lira for the journey.
Angel Kanchev will remain one of the bright figures he will remember later on. In the winter of 1876, Stefan Stambolov hides for ten days at the Ryaskov family's house. Under his orders and those of Nikola Kabakchiev, Ryaskov takes Hajji Dimitar from Dryanovo in exchange for 3,000 lira's worth of wheat, a reserve for the upcoming April Uprising.
Having graduated from high school with the first class, Nikola Ryaskov becomes a teacher at the primary school in Dryanovo and is a member of the local revolutionary committee, taking part in its preparations. According to his nephew, the great financier Marko Ryaskov is a member of the cheta of Bacho Kiro, participating in battles against the Circassians and bashi-bazouks, as well as the regular army, and after the defeat at the Dryanovo Monastery, he hides in the Balkans.
In Dryanovo, Ryaskov is one of the teachers who meets with Apostle Georgi Izmirliyev and shares various matters regarding the convened assembly, at which they swear to give their lives for the freedom of their homeland.
During the Russo-Turkish Liberation War (1877-1878), he volunteers for the Bulgarian militia. He is assigned to the 10th company, 2nd platoon. Nikola Ryaskov has been promoted to a non-commissioned officer for his heroism in battles near Peak Bedek, and received a silver medal for his actions at Shipka. After the Liberation in 1880, Ryaskov was awarded with the Military Silver Order "For Bravery" IV degree.
He then joined the Military School in Sofia, whose mission is to provide the necessary number of officers trained to meet the requirements of military art for our army and country. From its establishment until the departure of the Russian officers, it was modeled after Russian military schools, and followed Russian educational programs, regulations, textbooks, and procedures. Nikola Ryaskov was part of the first graduating class of 162 students. He was trained and educated by Russian officers, some of whom he knew from Shipka.
On February 3rd, 1879, he completed the course at the school. Ryaskov is a senior cadet major and a few months later, on May 10 of the same year, he holds the rank of "ensign". From his graduation, more than 30 people reached the rank of general, not accidentally the first graduation is named "general". His first assignment is in the Third Veliko Tarnovo Battery as a junior officer. On November 1, 1879, he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, and on August 30, 1882 - lieutenant. He was assigned as a junior adjutant in the artillery headquarters in Ruse.
The following year he was sent to the Russian army and on February 13, 1883, he entered the artillery rifle school, which he completed in September.
The unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia finds him in the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff in St. Petersburg. There he was a student of the famous military pedagogue and commander General Mikhail Dragomirov. Александър“ The academy course is ending and he is completing his internship in the 34th Artillery Brigade in Kherson.
When the declaration of the Serbian-Bulgarian war in 1885 is announced, he immediately returns to his homeland to take over command of the 6th Battery of the 2nd Artillery Regiment in Shumen. He participates in the war with it. On the evening of November 14, the battery leads a successful battle with an enemy battery at Bari Chiflik at a distance of 2,400 meters and forces it to quiet down. This is not only the success of Captain Nikola Ryaskov in the battle for capturing Pirot, but also a contribution to the military art of artillery - inter-battery fire. With this, Nikola Ryaskov joins the ranks of the Bulgarian captains who defeated the Serbian generals in this war. Here he demonstrates both his personal qualities and the strength of the young Bulgarian artillery. For this, he is awarded the Order of "St. Alexander". "Alexander" awarded fifth degree with swords. Receives silver medal for participation in combat operations.
In 1888, Major Ryaskov is appointed commander of the 4th Artillery Regiment. At this time, the artillery is in crisis - shortage of experienced personnel, losses from the war, outdated equipment. Exceptional efforts are needed to raise the level of training for both officers and soldiers. Ryaskov follows everything new that appears in literature and selects what is useful and necessary. He constantly learns and insists that his subordinates do the same.
In 1905, Nikola Ryaskov was promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed as Chief of the Fortress Artillery in the Bulgarian Army. As a major general, he has important contributions to the development of heavy artillery training - mainly in shooting and all services in fortress artillery armament in the army, he personally gives instructions for the training of artillerymen.
The most productive work of Nikola Ryaskov is as an artillery inspector. Under his leadership, the rearmament with rapid-fire guns takes place. "He initiates and leads a course where all commanders of artillery regiments, artillery divisions and batteries pass through. In 1906, he conducted the well-known Stara Zagora artillery shooting in the presence of all artillery officers from the army, where not only were they tested, but also he affirmed the innovations of General Ryaskov" - we read in the issue of August 7, 1917 of the newspaper "Military News".
General Major Nikola Ryaskov fully devoted himself to military service, visiting almost all artillery barracks, faithful to his motto: "Always forward!". He spent over thirty years of his life in the army.
As a person, he was also firm and uncompromising. In 1903, his nephew Marko Ryaskov, the future prominent banker and minister, had just graduated from a trade school in Svishtov. He wanted to continue his studies in science. His father, Iliya Ryaskov, brother of Nikola Ryaskov, was not able to support him. Young Marko Ryaskov turned to his uncle for help.
They reached an agreement for his father and uncle to each contribute equally to his expenses. The boy went to Antwerp and enrolled in the world-renowned Higher Institute of Commerce in Belgium. The nephew was studying diligently, attending lectures, but when he saw how other students from wealthy families were living much better than him, visiting theaters, exhibitions, concerts, he asked his uncle to send him a little more money for "cultural needs".
Not long after, Marko Ryaskov received a brief and clear response: "If you find that the money we send you is not enough, pack your bags and come back". The nephew Marko Ryaskov graduated with "honors" from the Higher Institute of Commerce in Belgium in 1905, to become one of our most famous bankers.
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