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Revision as of 22:24, 14 August 2004 by Joy (talk | contribs) (basic copyedit (removing some slant, too))(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Goce Delčev (also transliterated Gotze Delchev; 1872-1903) was a Bulgarian/Macedonian revolutionary, co-founder and leader of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation (IMARO), the predecessor to the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) (which came to being after WWI).
Born in Kukush (now Kilkis, northern Greece), Delcev collaborated to the foundation of IMARO in Thessaloniki in 1895. Though considering and declaring himself Bulgarian, Delcev was a champion of Macedonian autonomy and independence. He accepted and preached the principle "Macedonia for the Macedonians" opposing the attempts of Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece to annex the region. The goal of IMARO while led by Delcev was to bring freedom to all Macedonians - irrespective whether they were Bulgarian, Greek, Turkish, Vlach, Albanian or Jewish (Ladino) - by means of an internal insurrection.
Delcev died in April 1903 in a skirmish with the Turkish police near the village of Banitza, Serres region while preparing an uprising in Macedonia.