As director of the Bulgarian pedagogical school and as inspector of the other Bulgarian schools of the Skopie Exarchy, Matov had, virtually, complete power in the appointment of teachers in the various grades of schools in the Exarchy of Skopie. It was primarily due to this fact that the progress of the IMRO particularly in the Vilayet of Skopie, during the years of 1895-1896, and 1897-898, was markedly great. As regional leader of the revolutionary movement in Skopie, and as member of the Central revolutionary Committee in Salonica, Matov was subjected not only to numerous imprisonments but also was marked to be killed "In Skopie and Salonica," he wrote,"by the Servians and Greeks (1895-1900), and in Sofia, during 1912, by the Turks."
While in Skopie, Matov was almost invariably put under arrest and kept as prisoner in Kourshoumly-Hann, the local Skopie jail, for every political disturbance in that district. In 1901, when the Salonica outrage occurred, he was imprisoned in Edy-Koule, the famous fortress-prison of Salonica, the Bastille of Macedonia. He was exiled to Podroum-Kale, Asia Minor. There he found Gruev and Toshev both also in exile. In 1902, as a result of a general amnesty, he was released and allowed to return to Salonica. Soon after, he left Macedonia and went to Sofia as representative of the Central Committee of the IMRO abroad.
All thru the period of his revolutionary activity, Matov did not neglect his literary work. He was acknowledged constitutionalist of the Macedonian movement. All of his literary works are concerned about the Macedonian struggle for freedom and independence. He is the author of several books and a number of pamphlets, the following of which are the most important: (1) Za Oustroystvoto na Vatreshnata Organizatsiya, (2) Vostanicheski Deystvia, (3) Za Oupravlenieto na Vatreshnata Organizatsiya , (4) Osnovi na Vatreshnata Revolutsiona Organizatsiya, (5) Shto Behme -Shto Sme, (6) Repressaly Protiv Gratskata Propaganda, etc. , etc. He also wrote a number of poems while in prison. His best poem is the Vinishkata Pesen , which became the marching-song of the Macedonian Revolutionary chetas. While in Edy-koule, the Salonica prison, Matov composed the following famous poems: Zatochenik (The Exile) and Mayka i Sin (Mother and Son). Besides the above literary works he wrote several olemics and delivered numerous lectures. Because of the development of political conditions in Macedonia, particularly under the Young Turks' regime, he was compelled to emigrate to bulgaria. Matov died in sofia on February 10, 1922. He was the last of the original leaders that brought about the organization and development of the IMRO. He lived to witness the vicissitudes of the struggling Macedonian people during and after the cataclysms of 1912-13 and 1914-18. His name will figure in the annals of the Macedonian revolutionary movement as one of the greatest exponents of a free and independent Macedonian State.
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