Revolutionary Blazhe Krastev

Blazhe Krastev, known by the nickname Birincheto, was a Bulgarian revolutionary born in 1873 in the village of Birino, then part of the Ottoman Empire. He joined the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation (IMARO) and organised his own detachment.

During the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising, Blazhe Krastev and Ivan Naumov-Alyabaka captured the Turkish barracks in Krushevo on 2 August. He played an important part in defending the town from Turkish attacks under Pito Guli's leadership.

After the uprising ended, Krastev remained in Macedonia, where he continued organising detachments. In 1904 he joined Gyurchin Naumov-Plyaka's detachment and later participated in combined anti-Serbian operations in Poreche and Azot. In 1907 he became regional voivode for Krushevo, operating with a total of twenty fighters.

After the Young Turk Revolution, during which he briefly resumed legal activity, Krastev became the target of an attempted arrest. Instead of submitting to the gendarmes, he fought and killed them all. In 1909 he fled to Bulgaria but was sent back by Todor Alexandrov.

His tragic end came on 31 May 1911, when he died in a battle with the detachment of Doncho Todorov from Stara Zagora near Zhurche.

His death is remembered as a symbol of anti-Ottoman resistance and the Macedonian people's struggle for freedom.