Vasil Levski, born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev, (18 July 1837 – 18 February 1873), is a Bulgarian revolutionary and a national hero of Bulgaria.

Dubbed the Apostle of Freedom, Levski is the ideologue and strategist of a revolutionary movement to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule.

In founding the Internal Revolutionary Organization, Levski seeks to foment a nationwide uprising through a network of secret regional committees.

Born in the Sub-Balkan town of Karlovo to middle class parents, Levski becomes an Orthodox monk before emigrating to join the two Bulgarian Legions in Serbia and other Bulgarian revolutionary groups.

Abroad, he acquires the nickname Levski, "Leonine".

After working as a teacher in Bulgarian lands, he propagates his views and develops the concept of his Bulgaria-based revolutionary organization, an innovative idea that supersedes the foreign-based detachment strategy of the past.

In Romania, Levski helps institute the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee, composed of Bulgarian expatriates.

During his tours of Bulgaria, Levski establishes a wide network of insurrectionary committees.

Ottoman authorities, however, capture him at an inn near Lovech and execute him by hanging in Sofia.

Levski looked beyond the act of liberation: he envisioned a "pure and sacred" Bulgarian republic of ethnic and religious equality.

His concepts have been described as a struggle for human rights, inspired by the progressive liberalism of the French Revolution and 19th century Western European society.

Levski is commemorated with monuments in Bulgaria, and numerous national institutions bear his name.

In 2007, he topped a nationwide television poll as the all-time greatest Bulgarian.