Stefan Karadzha (real name: Stefan Todorov Dimov) was born on May 11th, 1840, in the village of Ichme (today bearing his name), Yambol Region. He was an offspring of one of the oldest Bulgarian family clans - the one of the Binbelovs.
He emigrated to Romania in 1862, where he started his revolutionary activities. He was the leader of a revolutionary detachment together with another great freedom fighter, Hadji Dimiter.