Revolutionary Kina Kancheva

Kina (Katerina) Kancheva Angelova, née Kesyakova, was a Bulgarian revolutionary and courier for the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee. She is known for her active participation in Bulgaria's nineteenth-century national liberation movement.

Kina was born in Tryavna in 1854 into the family of Kancho Angelov and Gana Pandurska. She had a brother, Angel Kanchev, and a younger sister, Ivanka Gorova, who was also a revolutionary. The family moved to Ruse, where Kina pursued her teacher training.

After her brother's death, Kina became actively involved in the national liberation struggle. She became a courier for Baba Tonka Obretenova and her daughter Petrana Obretenova, carrying letters, weapons, newspapers and books between Giurgiu and Ruse. When her sister Ivanka married Dimitar Gorov, a well-known revolutionary and financial supporter of Bulgarian revolutionaries, Kina continued and intensified her courier work.

During the War of Liberation, Kina and her sister Ivanka were among those who accompanied Hristo Botev's detachment to Banat and assisted its efforts. They successfully carried important documents and messages hidden in their hair. Subsequently, after Bulgaria's Liberation, Kina received a pension from the National Assembly.

After her husband Aleksandar Kesyakov's death in 1895, Kina supported her son Angel and her ill sister Stoyanka. She died in 1932. Kina Kancheva was known as a Russophile and participated in opposition to Russian rule in Ruse in 1887.