Revolutionary Velcho Atanasov

Velcho Atanasov-Dzhamdzhiyata was a Bulgarian revolutionary and principal organiser of the conspiracy known as "Velcho's Conspiracy", directed against the Ottoman Empire. He was also an advocate of education and a merchant. The events of this period were connected with the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829 and the signing of the Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi in 1833, which strengthened hopes for Bulgaria's swift liberation with Russian support.

Preparations for Velcho's Conspiracy began after the war, when Georgi Mamarchev and Vasil Hadzhivalkov established contact with patriotic Bulgarians in Tarnovo, including Velcho Atanasov, Ivanaki Yonkov Kyurkchi, Nikola Gaytandzhiyata, Father Sergiy, Dimitar Sofiyanliyata, the teacher Andon Nikopit, Stoyancho Ahtarya, Hadzhi Yordan Bradata and others. The conspiracy's plan included mobilising the workers of master builder Dimitar Sofiyanliyata, who had been hired by the Turkish authorities to restore Varna Fortress.

The conspiracy aimed to liberate Bulgaria and proclaim a free Bulgarian state with Velcho Atanasov as prince-governor. If successful in Tarnovo, Ivanaki Yonkov Kyurkchi was to raise the people from Lovech to Vidin and become governor of one of the two towns, while Dimitar Sofiyanliyata was to block the mountain passes. Father Sergiy would take charge of spiritual affairs in the newly established Bulgarian Church.

On the eve of the revolt, in April 1835, the Elena notable Yordan Kisyov committed an act of betrayal that prompted swift action by the Turkish authorities. The uprising's leaders were captured, and most refused to reveal their accomplices even under torture. However, the Elena notable disclosed the information, and Velcho Atanasov, Dimitar Sofiyanliyata, Hadzhi Yordan Bradata and Nikola Gaytandzhiyata were hanged in Tarnovo on 4 April 1835. Father Sergiy died during the preliminary interrogations under torture, while Georgi Mamarchev, as a Russian subject, was exiled to the island of Samos and died in 1846. Ivanaki Yonkov-Kyurkchiyata was sent to Vidin at the personal insistence of the pashalik's governor, Gazi Hüseyin Pasha, and was subsequently hanged in Lovech.