Delchev, Goce

(1872 –1903), was an important Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary 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 Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), a secret revolutionary society, 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 Principality of Bulgaria. As such he was elected also a member of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee(SMAC), participating in the work of its governing body. Though, he was killed in a battle with an Ottoman unit on the eve of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising.
Today Gotse Delchev is considered as a national hero in Bulgaria, as well as in North Macedonia, where it is claimed that he was among the founders of the Macedonian national movement. Macedonian historians insist that the historical myth of Delchev there is so significant, that it is more important than all the historical researches and documents, and therefore his (Bulgarian) ethnic identification, should not be discussed.