Revolutionary Angel Gatso

Angel Dimitrov, known as Gatso or Gacho, was a Greek revolutionary and military officer of Bulgarian origin and an important hero of the Greek War of Independence. He was born around 1771 in Sarakinovo village, now Sarakini in Greece. He participated in the Greek uprising as a hajduk, playing a key role in the Naousa Uprising. After Naousa fell, he escaped to the Karakamen Mountains with his son Mitso and brother Petar, but his wife and other children were captured by the Ottomans.

Gatso, Mitso and another revolutionary, Anastasios Karatasos, went south and continued the struggle for Greek independence. He fought in numerous battles, including Peta and the defeat of the Ottomans at Dervenakia. In 1823, he fought at Trikeri and in the Northern Sporades, then transferred his activities to the Peloponnese, where he fought Ibrahim Pasha's forces. He joined the Battle of Atalanti in 1826.

Gatso was highly regarded by the uprising's leaders: Theodoros Kolokotronis called him a 'brave man', and Yannis Makriyannis a 'courageous and virtuous patriot'. In 1823, the Greek public figure and revolutionary Christoforos Perraivos wrote to him that the homeland would honour him as he deserved.

After the new Greek state was established, Gatso joined its army and died in poverty as a colonel in Atalanti in 1839. His son Mitso Gatso reached the rank of major in the Greek army. A monument to Gatso was erected in Sabotsko, and one of the village's streets was named after him.