he was born in veles (then known by the name köprülü) in the kosovo vilayet of the ottoman empire (present-day north macedonia) where he graduated from bulgarian exarchate's school. brashnarov graduated from the bulgarian pedagogical school in skopje. in 1903 he took part in the ilinden uprising. in 1908 he joined the people's federative party (bulgarian section). in 1903-1913 brashnarov worked as bulgarian teacher. in 1914-1915 he completed a two-year higher educational course in plovdiv. he was mobilized in the bulgarian army during the first world war and participated in the battles of doiran. in 1919, he joined the yugoslav communist party. in 1925 in vienna, brashnarov was elected as one of the leaders of internal macedonian revolutionary organization (united). because of his political convictions, he was sentenced to seven years in prison in the kingdom of yugoslavia. after his release he remained politically passive.