Revolutionary Velichko Velyanov

Velichko Todorov Velyanov, known as Chichkata, or the Uncle, was a Bulgarian revolutionary born in 1874 in Creshevo village, then part of the Ottoman Empire and now in North Macedonia. He is known as the Skopje regional voivode of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation (IMARO).

Velyanov joined IMARO in 1899 and subsequently became a district voivode in the Skopje region. He waged an intensive struggle against Serbian military and political propaganda in North Macedonia.

During the First Balkan War in 1912, Velyanov volunteered in the Macedonian-Adrianople Volunteer Corps. Later, during the First World War, the Bulgarian authorities arrested him, but he escaped from a Serbian prison and resumed his activities in IMRO.

In 1923, Velyanov led a group that murdered the Bulgarian politician Aleksandar Stamboliyski. In 1928, he sided with Ivan Mihaylov and participated in eliminating Boris Izvorski's detachment.

After the liberation of Vardar Macedonia, Velyanov moved to Skopje, where he died in 1943.

Ivan Mihaylov described him as a large man with a quiet voice, although completely illiterate. This testifies to his strong personality and influence in the revolutionary struggle of his time.