The Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Circle was founded in St. Petersburg in 1900. Members of it were Bulgarian students in the Russian Empire. Its purpose, according to its founding protocol, was: "To support the Macedonian cause materially and morally and, according to its capabilities, to monitor its development." One of the founders of the circle was Krste Misirkov, who, when he moved to St. Petersburg in 1902, became its chairman.