Revolutionary Ivan Kotev

Ivan (Vano, Vanchu) Kotev, known as Beluvcheto or Belovcheto, was a Bulgarian revolutionary and Krushevo voivode, known for his terrorist activity within the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation.

Born in Krushevo in the Ottoman Empire, now North Macedonia, Kotev joined the Krushevo Revolutionary Committee's terrorist group around 1901. In May 1902 he served in the militia supporting Velko Markov's detachment, besieged in Rakitnitsa. During the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising he was a fighter under Ivan Alyabaka.

During the First Balkan War, Kotev was a detachment voivode and played an active role in liberating Krushevo. He also volunteered for the Macedonian-Adrianople Volunteer Corps.

His tragic end came on 12 July 1913, when he died in a battle with Serbian troops between the villages of Rakitnitsa and Ostriltsi, near the Zhurechka River. After the battle the Serbian troops cut off his head and carried it through the streets of Krushevo in an attempt to intimidate the Bulgarian population.