Georgi Nikolov Delchev, known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev, was an important Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary (komitadji), active in the Ottoman-ruled Macedonia and Adrianople regions at the turn of the 20th century. He was the most prominent leader of what is known today as the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), a secret revolutionary society that was active in Ottoman territories in the Balkans at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Delchev was its representative in Sofia, the capital of the Principality of Bulgaria. As such, he was also a member of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC), participating in the work of its governing body. He was killed in a skirmish with an Ottoman unit on the eve of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising.
Portrait of Gotse Delchev in Sofia c. 1900
Delchev (right) and his former classmate from Kilkis, Imov as officer cadets in Sofia.
Letter from Delchev, where he declares himself and his compatriots as Bulgarians.
The diploma of Delchev from his graduation from the Military school in Sofia.
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Excerpt from the statute of BMARC, (1894 or 1896; in Bulgarian) Statute of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees Chapter I. – Goal Art. 1. The goal of BMARC is to secure full political autonomy for the Macedonia and Adrianople regions. Art. 2. To achieve this goal they [the committees] shall raise the awareness of self-defense in the Bulgarian population in the regions mentioned in Art. 1., disseminate revolutionary ideas – printed or verbal, and prepare and carry on a general uprising.
Excerpt from the statute of SMARO, (1896 or 1902; in Bulgarian) Statute of the Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization Chapter I. – Goal Art. 1. The Secret Macedonian-Adrianople organization has the goal of uniting all the disgruntled elements in Macedonia and the Adrianople region, regardless of their nationality, to win, through a revolution, a full political autonomy for these two regions. Art. 2. To achieve this goal, the organization fights to throw over the chauvinist propaganda and nationalist quarrels that are splintering and discouraging the Macedonian and Adrianople populations in his struggle against the common enemy; acts to bring in a revolutionary spirit and consciousness among the population, and uses all the means and efforts for the forthcoming and timely armament of the population with all that is needed for a general and universal uprising.
Excerpt from the statute of IMARO, 1906 (in Bulgarian) Statute of Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation (amended at the general congress in 1906) Chapter I. – Goal Art. 1. – The goal of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization is to unite any and all dissatisfied elements in Macedonia and the Adrianople Vilyaet without regard to their nationality so that political autonomy can be gained for these two regions.
Poster of most important members of IMARO and SMAC between 1893 and 1913.
