Ivan Anastasov ( bg, Иван Анастасов) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

revolutionary, a worker of the

Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

(IMARO). He was nicknamed Grcheto (''the little Greek''), because of his ethnic

heritage.

Biography

Ivan Anastasov was born in 1880 in town of Melnik, in today's

Blagoevgrad Province Blagoevgrad Province ( bg, област Благоевград, ''oblast Blagoevgrad'' or Благоевградска област, ''Blagoevgradska oblast''), also known as Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia ( bg, Пиринска Маке� ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

(then part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

). He studied in the Greek and Bulgarian schools in his town and also in the

Bulgarian Pedagogical School Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

Serres Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Nort ...

, where he finished two years of schooling. In 1899 he became a teacher of the

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate ( bg, Българска екзархия, Balgarska ekzarhiya; tr, Bulgar Eksarhlığı) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Con ...

in the village of Igumenets,

Petrich Petrich ( bg, Петрич ) is a town in Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria, located in Sandanski–Petrich Valley at the foot of the Belasica Mountains in the Strumeshnitsa Valley. According to the 2021 census, the town has 26,778 ...

region.

He entered the revolutionary organisation IMARO in 1900. At first, he was a member of the revolutionary band of

Kostadin Zelnikov Kostadin is a South Slavic masculine given name, a variant of '' Konstantin'' (Constantine). It may refer to: *Kostadin Adzhov (born 1991), Bulgarian footballer *Kostadin Alakushev, Bulgarian revolutionary in the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revo ...

. In November 1900 he met

Gotse Delchev Georgi Nikolov Delchev ( Bulgarian/Macedonian: Георги/Ѓорѓи Николов Делчев; 4 February 1872 – 4 May 1903), known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev (''Гоце Делчев'', originally spelled in older Bulgari ...

in the village of

Monospitovo Monospitovo ( mk, Моноспитово) is a village in the municipality of Bosilovo, North Macedonia. It used to be part of the former municipality of Murtino. It has about 750 houses and most of the people live permanently abroad. Demographic ...

. Anastasov accompanied Delchev during his tours in Eastern

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

. He worked as a revolutionary agitator in the regions of

, Poroy ( Poroia), Demir Hisar and

Strumica Strumica ( mk, Струмица, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedon ...

. He was a fighter in the bands of Mihail Poroyliyata and

Iliya Karchovaliyata Iliya is a village in Nevestino Municipality, Kyustendil Province, south-western Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eas ...

as well as a secretary in the band of

Georgi Radev Georgi Radev (Bulgarian: Георги Радев; born 15 September 1994) is a Bulgarian footballer who plays as a defender for Litex. Career On 3 June 2016 Radev rejoined his youth team Cherno More from Sozopol for undisclosed fee, but on 20 ...

. He escaped to Bulgaria for nine months and afterwards he again entered Macedonia and joined the band of

. During the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising he led a group of fighters in the region of

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

, which was destroyed in a battle near the village of Kalapot (today

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

). He then again escaped to Bulgaria, where the biographer

Lyubomir Miletich Lyubomir Miletich ( bg, Любомир Милетич) (14 January 1863 – 1 June 1937) was a leading Bulgarian linguist, ethnographer, dialectologist and historian, as well as the chairman of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences from 1926 to ...

recorded his memoirs. At the beginning of 1904, he headed to the region of Drama with a band of 14 fighters, but he was ambushed on the Bulgarian-Turkish border and was killed together with all other members of the band.

References

Любомиръ Милетичъ. „Движението отсамъ Вардара и борбата съ върховиститѣ по спомени на Яне Сандански, Черньо Пѣевъ, Сава Михайловъ, Хр. Куслевъ, Ив. Анастасовъ Гърчето, Петъръ Хр. Юруковъ и Никола Пушкаровъ“, Материали за историята на македонското освободително движение, книга VII, Издава „Македонскиятъ Наученъ Институтъ“, София - Печатница П. Глушковъ - 1927.
* Николов, Борис Й. „Вътрешна Македоно-одринска революционна организация. Войводи и ръководители (1893-1934). Биографично-библиографски справочник“, С. 2001, с. 7 * Милен Куманов. „Македония. Кратък исторически справочник“, София, 1993. * Енциклопедия „Пирински край“. Том 1, Благоевград, 1995. {{DEFAULTSORT:Anastasov, Ivan 1880 births 1904 deaths People from Sandanski Members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization Bulgarian revolutionaries Bulgarian schoolteachers Bulgarian people of Greek descent