Revolutionary Ivan Semerdzhiev – Panovcheto

Ivan Panov Semerdzhiev, also called Panovcheto, was born and educated in his home town. His schoolmates included Ilarion Dragostinov and Stefan Stambolov. He studied at the theological seminary in Odesa and at the university in the same city, but discontinued his education to become actively involved in the national liberation struggle.

He worked as a teacher in Gorna Oryahovitsa, where he was known for his hatred of the Turks and his optimism about Bulgaria's liberation. After Vasil Levski's death, Panov Semerdzhiev worked actively to revive the Internal Revolutionary Organisation and assisted the Dryanovo Local Revolutionary Committee. On the instructions of Hristo Botev and Stefan Stambolov, he became the chief revolutionary organiser for the country's interior.

Ivan Panov Semerdzhiev was active in preparing the April Uprising of 1876, heading the Gorna Oryahovitsa Local Revolutionary Committee and assisting Stefan Stambolov. He helped draw up the plan for the uprising in the area and became the voivode of a detachment from Gorna Oryahovitsa.

On 28 April, Panov Semerdzhiev's detachment joined Father Hariton's detachment. The uprising proved unsuccessful, however, and the detachment's leaders, Ivan Semerdzhiev and Georgi Izmirliev, were captured and hanged in Veliko Tarnovo on 28 May 1876. They were buried there alongside other insurgents.

A monument was erected in his honour on Yosif Gurko Street in Veliko Tarnovo to commemorate his sacrifice and contribution to the struggle for freedom.